tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358286862018-03-05T08:06:51.295-08:00So, who am I?Bunny In A Banana Suithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491876022488717136noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35828686.post-10106041983338075942007-08-10T18:54:00.001-07:002010-08-09T09:34:51.151-07:00Bloggin' for a change<img src="http://lh4.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/Rr0W_b9VqtI/AAAAAAAAADE/XY9V-6dKFps/blogbanner.jpg" /><br />_____________________________________________________<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RgbFAyVvt5I/AAAAAAAAAAc/wMrjekOt_7A/s1600-h/memandb.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RgbFAyVvt5I/AAAAAAAAAAc/wMrjekOt_7A/s320/memandb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5045937049818871698" border="0" /></a> So I have toyed with the thought of creating a blog for some time now. I even created one, and left it blank.<br /><br />I was still questioning the purpose of having an online diary.<br /><br />Sure, it has therapeutic qualities of sorts - but, it's the Internet. A whole <span style="font-style: italic;">world</span> full of semi-anonymous (no one is TRULY anonymous in cyberspace, all it takes is a little cyber sleuthing to discover one's identity) strangers, most of which, are like teens who were once bullied in high school, supplementing the shards of their souls, once broken, and never mended - with spouts of barbaric profanity and textual debauchery.<br /><br />Perhaps these thoughts indicate a slight hint of pessimism, or, perhaps, my thoughts are valid; I choose to believe - and I am sure most would agree - with the latter.<br /><br />I have recently found myself, however, captivated by books and websites like POSTSECRET, and FOUND. Both, are blog-like, in that, there is a level of anonymity that goes along with bearing parts of one's existence with complete strangers. I could sense, especially with Postsecret, the extreme liberation many people feel when allowed to reveal pieces of their identity, not only voluntarily, but, shyly - yet, so powerfully.<br /><br />The confessors seem to have no face, no name, the postcards and letters written in an unspecified time, yet they convey those inner fears and thoughts that people of all ages, creeds, and sexes can identify with.<br /><br />Perhaps, in writing these blogs, there are parts of the authors that <span style="font-style: italic;">want </span>to be credited as the creators.<br /><br />In a sense, the authors are perhaps part voyeur, and part exhibitionist, even if only with one toe out of the closet.<br /><br />So, who am I?<br /><br />I have been called an enigma.<br />Part voyeur, and an exhibitionist hiding in a shell.<br />I am the beautiful face with an articulate tongue.<br />I am deafeningly shy, although many would not believe that to be the truth.<br />I have repeatedly been as close to fame and fortune as dawn is to dusk, yet I shied away from the limelight.<br />I question it often, yet I praise my morals.<br />I am a human,<br />and I hope to be the best me I can be.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><A HREF="#quotes"><img src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//visitbloghime.jpg" /></a><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BDS8WUMSJhM&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BDS8WUMSJhM&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">1 YEAR LATER,</span></span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2mNozIi55Xc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2mNozIi55Xc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />and still, no one has, nor ever will, take your place. The HuMANitarian. The Music. The Legend.<br /><br />As Freud once said, "<span style="font-style:italic;">We are never so defenseless against suffering as when we love, never so forlornly unhappy as when we have lost our love object or its love.</span>" <br /><br />How I wish, Michael, that you would have seen how much the world loves you, and how much your real fans, who have supported you through all of your struggles, love you, before you died. Perhaps, in your passing, the lesson of humanity and faith in one another, loving and supporting, helping and mending the wounds of those in need, can be a lesson learned, as one reflects back on the events surrounding your last years on this earth.<br /><br />For those who walk with blinders off, instead of ride on the crowded bandwagon of ignorant bliss, stumbles and scrapes will often befall them, but how courageous they be who stand up, repeatedly in their isolation, dust off their knees, and march straight ahead, in battle - fighting that good fight against the ills of the world.<br /><br />For every stumble that befell you, you learned to mend not only yourself, but mend the wounds of those in need. It was your compassion and dignity, your perseverance and strength that would lead you to extract all of the hurt and pain in yourself, and turn it into a positive: the ability to recognize suffering in others. You placed the wants and needs of others above your own, and in you, the world lost a great friend.<br /><br />You were a hero, a fighter until the very end.<br /><br />Thanks for the magic.<br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><h2><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">DER PANTHER - </h2><h3>one of the most vivid, emotionally wrenching, haunting translations of Rilke's famous piece that I have ever read.</h3><br /></span></span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories/macandbumble/menewmabngal.jpg"><br /><br /><br />His gaze from staring through the bars <br />has grown so weary that it<br />can take in nothing more<br /><br />For him it is as though there were a thousand bars, <br />and behind the thousand bars, <br />no world<br /><br />As he paces in cramped circles over and over, <br />his powerful strides are like a ritual dance<br />around a center where a great will<br />stands paralyzed<br /><br />At times the curtains of the eye lift without a sound<br />and a shape enters, <br />slips through the tightened silence of the shoulders, <br />reaches the heart<br /><br />and dies.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">-Rainer Maria Rilke</span> <br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><h1><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">ON MY BIRTHDAY!!</span></h1></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SzMUxuIrxdI/AAAAAAAAAa8/pCTmwOl5UK0/s1600-h/sade-soldier-of-love-600.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SzMUxuIrxdI/AAAAAAAAAa8/pCTmwOl5UK0/s200/sade-soldier-of-love-600.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418697621087438290" /></a>I have been waiting for nearly an entire decade for the ever illustrious contralto extraordinaire Sade to drop another album.<br /><br />As each year drew to a close, it seemed unlikely (even though the band and vocalist Sade are notorious for long stints in between new albums) given that ms. Adu was rapidly approaching her fifties (she is now 50).<br /><br />I am quite possibly the biggest Sade fan alive, (when I have kids, I plan to name my daughter Helen)! owning every single one of her/their (yes, Sade is actually the name of the <span style="font-style:italic;">band</span>, not just the singer) albums, singles, DVD's and international and rare remixes, in addition to, of course, knowing all of the bands' instrumentals and songs verbatim.<br /><br />As I gave up hope in Sade releasing another album, I found myself caught in the middle of <span style="font-style:italic;">"maybe it's for the best</span>, because at 50 and older, ms. Adu's trademark <span style="font-style:italic;">smokey-can-melt-glaciers</span> contralto would begin to deepen and would lose it's intoxicating luster and appeal, in addition to the fact that it would be highly likely that Sade's label would try to change the sound of the band altogether to sound 'current'..which would be blasphemy!" <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />and</span><br /><br />"the world has lost one of it's most gifted vocalists and bands (because let's face it, <span style="font-style:italic;">Sweetback</span> failed to impress without it's front runner behind the mic) in Sade - and that is one massive void..what a waste of immeasurable talent to <span style="font-style:italic;">not</span> release another album before she dies".<br /><br />Perhaps its a testament to increasing age on my part, or perhaps just good taste (ha), but I cannot - <span style="font-style:italic;">will not</span> - listen to anything on the radio. Music today is beyond awful. So far beyond awful, in fact, that no words could really do the sentiment justice.<br /><br />There have been, for the past year, hints that Sade will be making a comeback, and now, that hint has become reality.<br /><br />I can think of no better way to celebrate my birthday (which is the same day the album is scheduled to be released, February 8 2010) than to unwrap the cellophane and pop that baby into my player.<br /><br />I do hope to hear the signature Sade sound that I have come to know and love. It pains me, as such an ardent admirer of the singer and band to say that I am not impressed with the title track, which can be heard at <a href="http://www.sade.com">www.sade.com</a>. Those negative theories I had about an octave drop (her voice is almost unrecognizable) and a 'poppy, updated' sound are obviously prevalent even to a novice fan (I would imagine) on that single. <br /><br />I do hope that "<span style="font-style:italic;">The soldier of Love</span>" title track is just an isolated case, and that the rest of the album will be that signature sound that I love - that <span style="font-style:italic;">sexy jazz and mellow reggae that makes me melt</span> with every note.<br /><br />Either way, I am really excited and am looking forward to getting my hands on that album!<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">THANKS TOMMY :)</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/RwPc6kb91gI/AAAAAAAAAJw/8j9LnEqYxsc/tommyandmepreview11.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://lh3.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/RwPc6kb91gI/AAAAAAAAAJw/8j9LnEqYxsc/tommyandmepreview11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5045937049818871698" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Today is Hallowe'en, and I am satiated by a fabulous treat: a FWD from TommyLee that couldn't have come at a better moment.<br /><br />Tommy, you have always been a genuinely kind and sweet person and friend, thank you for thinking of me with this particular FWD. I know you've always had the 'badboy' image, but for those blessed enough to know the real you, they know that you are the <span style="font-style:italic;">epitome</span> of the person described in this chain, and I thank you for reminding me that I am as well, and that it's not only ok - but admirable, to fall outside of modern societies' conventions.<br /><br />This FWD made me feel good - about <span style="font-style:italic;">me</span>. Sometimes we (as people) can forget who we really are inside, we can undervalue the qualities we possess that make us unique - we can feel sorrow inflicted upon us by the words and actions of others..we question ourselves, our own value as one person amongst 6 billion..<br /><br />we, in the midst of all of the worldly chaos..<br /><br />get <span style="font-style:italic;">lost</span>.<br /><br />Thank you, Tommy, for letting me find myself. This was just the email that I needed.<br /><br />Hugs.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The email:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The<br />round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.<br />They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can<br />quote them; disagree with them; glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you<br />can't do is ignore them. Because they change things.<br />They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy<br />ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do!!!!! "</span><br /><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><h2><span style="font-weight: bold;">SURREALIST INTERPRETATION </span><span style="font-style: italic;">1st Installment: Rene Magritte's "La Thérapeute"</h2><br /></span><br />In part due to my exposure within the entertainment realm, and in part due to true appreciation for the arts, I find great pleasure in interpreting my favorite pieces, particularly in the Surrealist genre. It's no secret that surrealist art directly influences both film and photography.<br /><br />Trace elements from the works of both Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte, for example, are heavily used in various art mediums (Such as the 'cut horse' scene in the film the 'Cell' - a direct play on Magritte's <span style="font-style:italic;">The Blank Check.<br /></span><br />Both Dali and Magritte were famous for their viewpoints on interpretation; seldom revealing the true meaning behind their works (in fact, Magritte went as far as to say his works are devoid of any meaning at all).<br /><br />I find that one's interpretation of art stem from one's own perspective and/or life experiences. In that regard, each piece that one chooses to hang on display in his or her home, becomes something very personal. A work that may be mass produced in duplications, yet remain intricately unique to each buyer.<br /><br />I will start with a Magritte piece, entitled "La Thérapeute".<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/StMwMrrLB-I/AAAAAAAAAak/UZymVJMWNAk/s1600-h/photo-19.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 399px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/StMwMrrLB-I/AAAAAAAAAak/UZymVJMWNAk/s400/photo-19.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391706173332981730" /></a><br /><br />First, I will start with the title, "La Thérapeute" (The Theraputist). I think this image is about [Magritte]'s interpretation of therapy/therapists.<br /><br />I think that the curtain hiding the face of the therapist is indicative of a therapist being, in essence, faceless - never truly able to humanize himself, hiding behind the medical system's policies, red tape, and legal liabilities. In that vein, the therapist can never truly say what he or she feels because it may violate policy; he or she can never truly connect to the patient, because he or she needs to be connected to policy and his or her career.<br /><br />The curtain and the doves represent the similarity of a therapist, bound by procedure and policy - to that of a magician. The therapist can seemingly "cure" a patient through the administration of drugs - but in reality, drugs are a bandaid, the problem is really still there in the patient - and, like the slight of hand, of fool to the eye.. on surface value, the "cure" is, in reality, nothing but smoke and mirrors..a cheap magic trick.<br /><br />The doves, one in a cage - a prison - and one outside of the cage is an important element, I think - into the mind of the patient. He or she is in his or her own prison (the cage) - although the door to freedom is open..(the open door on the cage) yet the patient is too fearful to step outside and experience it. His pain, his fear, his depression - have consumed him, and become his life - to stray from it - would be venturing out into a frightening unknown.<br /><br />The bird on the outside, I think..represents the patient..trying to convey to the faceless therapist..that unless he or she is on the <span style="font-style:italic;">outside looking</span> in..he or she could never possibly understand his torment. The bird on the inside is situated over the area where the therapists heart would sit. The open door, taking on a second meaning, indicates the patients' desire to tell the therapist to <span style="font-style:italic;">open up</span> his or her heart..forget about the red tape - to humanize himself, and try to look at the patient from a more personal perspective.<br /><br />The bowler's hat worn by the therapist hints at the fact that under all of the facade of a medical healthcare professional, the therapist would be surprised to learn that he has more in common with his patient than he cares to believe (Magritte was well known for his love of bowler's hats, and was often photographed wearing them).<br /><br />I think the cane that the therapist is holding onto represents the fact that beneath all of the protocols, the therapist really is no magician at all - he or she is human, flawed, and has also experienced trauma. He or she is internally <span style="font-style:italic;">crippled</span>, and, as is true of many psychologists, he or she became a therapist in order to deal with his or her personal issues, and hide behind credentials and a title of a mental health worker as a false redemption..a false indicator that he or she has overcome his or her obstacles, and is in control of his or her life. The therapist in this image clearly is still crippled by his or her own demons, hence the clutching of the cane.<br /><br />I think this theory is further proved by looking at the 'doctors bag' he is clutching. The bag is old and weathered, held together only by a few stitches, which seem loose enough that, with enough pressure..the bag would burst, exposing everything inside of it..those confidential notes no one is meant to see. I think that bag represents his personal fear of being exposed, and that he is reaching the brim of his struggle with his own demons, hiding behind his career, and, if the pressure increases, he will explode. Again, going back to the cane..very little is holding him together. Loose stitches to hide what's inside [the bag] of him..and a cane to keep him stable, standing on solid ground.<br /><br />The water, calm and serene, behind the therapist, are again, a play on a smoke and mirrors theme - that, on the surface.. therapy, and the therapist seem as though they have it altogether, they are calm, cool and collected..but if one were to step out of the water onto the sand..that is <span style="font-style:italic;">supposed to be solid ground</span> (another play on the false notion that a therapist has his or her life altogether) one would find themselves being cut at the ankles by weeds. The alleged 'solid' ground', [the sand] to the patient, then becomes a relatively unsafe terrain. The 'ground' [representing the therapist] is not so stable afterall.<br /><br />The weeds in the sand are indicative of the demons that haunt both the patient and the therapist.<br /><br />That's my interpretation. <br /><br />What do <span style="font-weight:bold;">you</span> see in Magritte's piece? Feel free to email me your interpretations!<br /> <br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><h2><span style="font-weight: bold;">I JUST CRIED MY WEIGHT IN TEARS </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Michael Jackson Aug 29 1958 - June 25 2009.</h2><br /></span><br /><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/bunnyinabananasuit/RvCk4BWU40I/AAAAAAAAAI4/JtCBcY7DBUc/rose01.jpg"><br />..watching Michael's memorial service..but at last, people said what us TRUE fans..have ALWAYS been saying. My only wish is that Michael could have seen how beloved he was and is, especially in his own country - before he died.<br /><br />To Michael's true fans and followers, he was always a humanitarian first - who gave undivided love - and a KING second.<br /><br />Rest In Peace, Michael, we miss you!<br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><h2><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rest In Peace, Michael Jackson </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Aug 29 1958 - June 25 2009.</h2><br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SkRUFgsd6tI/AAAAAAAAAaY/UE8K7Z6uXWA/s1600-h/gettymj.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 166px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SkRUFgsd6tI/AAAAAAAAAaY/UE8K7Z6uXWA/s400/gettymj.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351494710875515602" /></a><br /><br />There is no fitting sentiment I can think of to truly express exactly how shocked I am to learn of Michael's death.<br /><br />I first heard of his passing this afternoon - yet it has taken me until nearly 9 pm to say anything about it at all.<br /><br />Those who follow my career and interviews - online and in magazines, or past interviews in the press - or new fans who stumbled upon my dot com to find my essays on the King of Pop both during and after his child molestation trials - know of me as an ardent admirer. To those I surrounded myself with growing up, I was a seriously overzealous fan.<br /><br />"You are going to wear Michael out!" My father often exclaimed, as, through much of my teenage years, from the moment I opened my eyes, to the moment I fell asleep, I'd play a Michael album, Jackson 5 album, Youtube Michael Jackson footage, a Michael DVD, a Michael rare-to-find remix from all corners of the globe..at present day, owning most of his albums (except a few rarities) one could still find echoes of Sir Billie Jean spilling from every electronic device I own that is able to produce the sound of music.<br /><br />I have so many fond memories of youth where a Michael tune placated a setting, a moment, a feeling, a vibe..that it is difficult to imagine possible a youth without Michael bringing a smile to my face.. as a family member moonwalked at a birthday party, as a laugh, as pure and as innocent as a child discovering life for the first time - would laugh, as friends or loved ones popped their hips, and exclaimed Michael's catchphrase '<span style="font-style:italic;">whoo!</span>'..that could be interpreted to mean, man..<span style="font-style:italic;">this is good</span>.<br /><br />Watching the artists of the 90's who continue to have a thriving career to present day, it is almost impossible to find both men and women who don't exude a stage persona somehow influenced by, and eerily reminiscent of the gifted genius whose moves and spirit starred in videos that our generation and the generation before us were left in awe of. The hit maker and the move shaker who took a James Brown influence and catapulted it into another hemisphere, making it his own, and laying the groundwork for pop, soul and rock creative ingenuity for countless days to come.<br /><br />There is so much I want to say, but today, and for many a day to come, there is a whole world who mourns..so I am going to keep this brief.<br /><br />This is the first time in my life where I don't think I will be able to - at least I know I cannot at this present moment - read nor watch press clippings or tributes regarding the death of this particular celebrity (it's just too difficult). I never imagined it possible that I could feel a sense of mourning for someone I never even knew in life. I never understood the fans of actors, political figures, and singers, who were brought to tears not by tributes, but by their memories of who their shining star was to them. Today, I think I finally understand the gist of that profound type of impact..that tear that is shed not just for the passing of a person one admires, but a tear that is shed for the overwhelming flooding of memories of youth, innocence and good times, with your star shining in the background, providing an element of a story - a setting if you will - to our tales of yesteryear.<br /><br />In that way, for both people who knew Michael personally, and for the millions of fans around the globe, we have something in common..<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">we have our memories.</span></span><br /><br />Rest In Peace, Michael Jackson..the world will miss you.<br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zj1vXf44SeA&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zj1vXf44SeA&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><h2><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A HYPOTHETICAL: <span style="font-style: italic;">SHOULD THE INTERNET SEEK CENSORSHIP?</h2><br /></span></span><br /><img src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//censorship.jpg"><br /><br />Where to even begin with this topic? I am strongly opposed to censorship of any kind, including the most crass dialogue and disturbing imagery. The internet, at least in the Western standard, is one of the last almost free reigning media outlets in support of freedom of the press and freedom of speech.<br /><br />With exception to every rule, there isn't a mass exodus of PC users spilling into the streets engaging in anarchy, draping themselves in KKK hoods, or rubbing peanut butter on their nipples in a mass orgy. (The idea being that if the internet doesn't prohibit 'adult' content of any kind, children exposed to such imagery will be more inclined to replicate what they have seen on the internet).<br /><br />Actually, you have, on a grand scale - the opposite. When content is uploaded online that is deemed to be objectionable, there exists an opportunity for a dialogue where dialogue may not have previously been. An open forum on a massive scale, reaching across the pan Atlantic (where not prohibited), up north, and to your neighbor down the street. Audiences of all levels of intellect, social-economic standards, races, creeds, and theological (or lack thereof) beliefs. Opinions that are derivative of the values of one's polar opposite to ones moral doppelganger.<br /><br />The benefits of that scale of dialogue are astronomical in contrast to the same 'objectionable' content somehow appearing before the eyes of a catholic school or church of under 100 members, a community of democrats, republicans, Americans, Canadians, Italians - people who may share a similar perspective or cultural ideal.<br /><br />Allowing a 'child' to be regarded as a <span style="font-style:italic;">sponge of knowledge</span> instead of <span style="font-style:italic;">a potential victim to be protected</span> has it's benefits..that child can allow him/herself unlimited perspectives from all walks of life, and he or she can come to his or her own conclusions, ideals and opinions....building the very fibers of an analytical and objective mind necessary to becoming a productive adult member of society.<br /><br />Censorship is nothing more than a consolidated effort to surround oneself with like-minded peers, and force one's own ideologies onto others. It <span style="font-style:italic;">reeks</span> of ignorance and hypocrisy.<br /><br />Just look at what is happening to the American media. Progressives will tell you that the western standard is further advanced, is 'freer' than ever seen before. If that isn't trying to pull the wool over the public eye, I don't know what is.<br /><br />There are facets of American pop culture that <span style="font-style:italic;">have</span> progressed - for instance, if one were to compare a Playboy of modern times in contrast to one published 50 years prior, he/or she would notice a more liberal showcase of the human form.<br /><br />Progressive? Yes..<br /><br />but let's look at broadcasting, <span style="font-style:italic;">the</span> bread and butter of the media. Where women like myself, and many of the other accomplished ladies in the adult sector are silently <span style="font-style:italic;">verboten</span> from becoming network anchors because it compromises a conservative religious based ideal (in a nation moving <span style="font-style:italic;">away</span> from theology, mind you!); where men like Don Imus: shock jocks on shock jock radio get fired for being..<span style="font-style:italic;">shocking</span>..<br /><br />In fact, if one were to peruse through leading television series in the 1970's, and even as recent as the late 1980s and 90's (the likes of <span style="font-style:italic;">All In The Family</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">The Golden Girls)</span>, he or she might be shocked to see what actors could get away with in those times. Aside from paying for cable networks like HBO, one could almost never find such racial/sexual orientation epithets commonplace in modern television - the FCC sees to that.<br /><br />Progressive? Quite the opposite. The FCC is argumentatively unconstitutional in many of its decisions as of late. Unfortunately, in a pacifist and conformist society, the media rides the tide of what is <span style="font-style:italic;">told</span>, or <span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">forced</span></span> to be the norm - a byproduct of the cries of the hypersensitive masses - <span style="font-style:italic;">regardless</span> of 1st Amendment Rights.<br /><br />The hypocrisy with the FCC and those who support it's communist-like regime is that many who have backed their decisions are self proclaimed atheists and agnostics who believe religion to be at the root of segregation of the races and sexualities, and that equality should be sought through appreciation of civil freedoms, in the absence of any kind of Deity or theology (it should be noted that I am not a Christian) - and they claim that out of all of the noted 'sins' listed in the Bible, that believers are quick to 'pick and choose' only the beliefs that benefit them - yet those atheists/agnostics pointing the accusing finger are the very <span style="font-style:italic;">same</span> people who are quick to back Al Sharpton - a Baptist Minister, and <span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Reverend</span></span>..when he goes head to head with the FCC in an effort to strip a man of his rights and his job.<br /><br />That is hypocrisy - and it rocks the very foundation of freedom of expression and Civil Rights.<br /><br />The internet, for the most part, in Western culture, is the definition, true to form, of what the First Amendment stands for: a mass forum where theologists, atheists, fetishists, anarchists, and unlimited personas - <span style="font-style:italic;">and even..Al Sharpton..</span>are free to speak their piece.<br /><br />Emphasis on the word <span style="font-style:italic;">Free</span>. <br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><h2><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ARE YOU A LOGICAL THINKER?</h2><br /></span></span><br />Are you an analytical and/or a logical thinker? Are you more inclined to employ emotions and/or reason into solving a problem?<br /><br />Take the 'Are You Logical?' test! It's a really fun way to learn a little bit about yourself, and how the wheels are set in motion in your brain.<br /><br />So how do I think? I scored 100 percent logical. I am a logical thinker:<br /><br /><img src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//logicaced.jpg"><br /><br />How do you fare? <br /><br />Take the test by clicking <a href="http://www.think-logically.co.uk/lt.htm">HERE</a>.<br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><h2><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE GRAND ILLUSION THAT IS ME<br /></span></span></h2><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories/macandbumble/menewmabngal.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 409px; height: 368px;" src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories/macandbumble/menewmabngal.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <br /><br />I am not a pillar of strength<br />Nor a warrior<br />I am not brave<br /><br />Although I care not about the thoughts of others<br />I care deeply of yours, when you and I once equaled each other<br /><br />Admired with many suitors<br />conjures up endless inaccuracies,<br />stereotypes and assumed personalities<br />in the grand illusion that is me.<br /><br />Beyond the face and credits<br />There lies great fears and pain<br />As Human as is to humilities' decree<br /><br />Sensitive and compassionate<br />Words of a loved one render me weak<br /><br />Yet it is thought I never weep<br />That I breathe, eat, live and speak<br />life.. handed to me on a silver platter<br /><br />but I have felt, touched and seen<br />the world’s ugly, unjust and obscene<br /><br />Dabbling in philanthropy<br />To fill - not a void -<br />but in a quest to contribute to peace<br />So that when my time comes to pass<br />I will know that I, at the very least<br /><br />attempted to make a positive change<br /><br />‘Good karma is just outside the window’ ( or so they say )<br />but when I look through the glass<br />it all remains the same<br /><br />There are times I want to run<br />away from the chaos in the world and you<br /><br />..those days I turn my back to the sun<br /><br />But the magnifying glass brings me back to reality<br />that I cannot outrun, I cannot hide<br /><br />for this race is bigger than even me..<br />A skewed perception from the world<br />that often brings me to my knees<br /><br />that keeps me, by choice, from moving ahead<br />..into that faceless abyss<br /><br />Wherein I could never compete, nor measure up to<br />The heights and expectations amassed upon me<br /><br />by people who call themselves fans, admirers,<br />Lovers or confidantes<br /><br />Those I cannot bring nor allow myself to appease<br /><br />Who think me<br /><br />A tearsheet and a girl in a magazine<br />A Barbie doll, an American dream<br /><br />Living a life of superficiality<br />Will forever remain an inaccurate fantasy<br /><br />In the grand illusion that is me.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><h2><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">DURHAM HUMANE SOCIETY NEEDS YOUR HELP!<br /></span></span></h2><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SUt4O4b57VI/AAAAAAAAAZE/9qpzxLIYKFc/s1600-h/dhs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 106px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SUt4O4b57VI/AAAAAAAAAZE/9qpzxLIYKFc/s400/dhs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281447185084968274" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >december 19, 2008</span><br /><br />2 days ago, in the city of Oshawa (just 60 km | 37 mi) east of Toronto (Canada) the Durham Humane Society suffered a "massive fire" - killing over 150 animals.<br /><br />Of several stories that have made the press, differing quotes have surfaced, ranging from one of the Vets stating that it was likely that most of the animals perished from smoke inhalation or were rendered unconscious before their bodies were set ablaze to burn to death; from employees of the Humane Society stating that they "had to believe" that to be the case - because if they believed anything else, they "couldn't handle it" - to perhaps the most painful quote of them all, of a more sinister account, that hints at the idea that many of the animals were in fact conscious and burned alive: a firefighter was quoted to say that he heard the bellowing of dogs - fighting for their lives, from down the street as they approached the shelter..<br /><br />sadly, only 8 dogs, two cats and one rat were saved.<br /><br />Employees and volunteers of the shelter, many who likely raised animals of such a tender age they required bottle feeding, into adulthood, also went to work everyday with the goal of finding a loving home for otherwise unwanted and/or abused / healthy animals. The pain they are going through must be horrendous - and at a time when many are celebrating <em>life</em> in the spirit of the holiday season..the employees of the Humane society mourn an astronomical loss.<br /><br />One employee had indicated that a cat had "recently been rescued from an abusive owner" and that the shelter had "just found her a loving home" but that they needed to keep her for "just one more week" so that she could be spayed, and then sent on her way to her new happy, warm family - free from the abuses handed down to her by the owners of her past.<br /><br />Sadly, that cat never got the chance to meet her new family, who were ready to embrace her with open arms.<br /><br />The cause of the fire is still under investigation, with damages estimated in excess of 250K.<br /><br />The Toronto Humane Society, itself already overcrowding, is offering assistance of what few bowls and food items they can spare.<br /><br />Now, more than ever, our Humane Societies need the help of compassionate donors. Please do not think that even 5 dollars is too little to spare - your five dollars, if that is all you can afford to give, adds up to a cumulative balance.<br /><br />Canadians/Ontarians, (note that you are not required to be Canadian to donate) in addition to/in absence of monetary donations, office equipment - such as chairs, cabinets, tables, a till - etc - can also be donated, and a service will be made available to pick up the items for you should you be unable to deliver it/them on your own. (see below for more info).<br /><br />News Article, Toronto Star: <a href="http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/555274">http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/555274</a><br /><br />News Article, Toronto Metro: <a href="http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/local/article/156684">http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/local/article/156684</a><br /><br /><strong>How to give:</strong><br /><br /><em>Quoting The Star:</em>"Monetary Donations can be made at <a href="http://www.humanedurham.com/">http://www.humanedurham.com/</a> or by calling the <strong>SPCA</strong> at 1-888-668-7722 ext. 323."<br /><br /><em><a href="http://newsdurhamregion.com/article/115896">quoting Durham News:</a></em> (story linked).<br /><br />"The Humane Society can be reached by calling 905-433-2022 or 905-436-5632, or contacting the City's call centre at 905-436-3311, The call centre will forward calls to shelter staff.<br /><br />All City Wide taxi drivers have offered to pick up donations of money and items to help the Humane Society, free of charge. Drivers will collect cheques -- no cash -- and deliver them to Humane Society officials. Items such as food and litter will be stored by City Wide until a drop-off location is determined. City Wide can be reached at 905-579-9393."<br /><br />In lieu of any donations, or in addition to any donations, word of mouth is appreciated.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><h2><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">All I Want For Christmas Is..</span></span></h2><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: none; cursor: pointer; width: 461px; height: 308px;" src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//blogsignme.jpg" /><br /><br />Donations, donations, donations. In my name, or yours - to any/all of the causes I support.<br /><br />I personally vouch for the legitimacy all of these organizations as I am an active donor of all of them. (Click on each logo to be directed to the respective sites):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.sickkidsfoundation.com/donate/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 109px; height: 48px;" src="http://www.sickkidsfoundation.com/images/layout/logo.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold;">SICK KIDS HOSPITAL Toronto location.</span> A gift this season or any time of the year to help brighten the day of a child in need. Monetary and/or toys.<br /><br /><a href="http://donate.wvus.org/OA_HTML/xxwvibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?lid=3000&amp;lpos=fea_btn_GiftCatalog&amp;section=10024"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: none; cursor: pointer; width: 109px; height: 48px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RnmoXXj_tHI/AAAAAAAAABM/38xgS_HWgvg/s400/wv_logo_v69.gif" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold;">USA Chapter - Child Sponsorship and/or One Time Only Gift Option</span><br /><br /><a href="https://www.worldvision.ca/Pages/Home.aspx"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: none; cursor: pointer; width: 109px; height: 48px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RnmoXXj_tHI/AAAAAAAAABM/38xgS_HWgvg/s400/wv_logo_v69.gif" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold;">CANADIAN Chapter - Child Sponsorship</span><br /><br /><a href="https://catalogue.worldvision.ca/Gifts/Forms/Home.aspx"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RhS1nhd9zjI/AAAAAAAAAA4/Hm0lajCbvLU/s400/banner.jpg" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold;">CANADIAN Chapter, World Vision - One Time Gift Only</span><br /><br />World Vision is one of the most reputable charities in existence, with annual expense reports and audits that show donors exactly where and how their funds are used. 85 percent of funds are donated, not only to your sponsor child in need in a third nation of your choice, but also to the village in which your sponsor child in need inhabits.<br /><br />Alternatively, if you cannot commit to a monthly donation or a child, you can opt for a one time only gift, starting as low as $30! Gifts can include a well, a goat for milking and cheese, a sheep, or immunization and asylum offered to underage girls forced into the sex trade; these are just some of the few life changing opportunities you can give. Just think, with one calf, or one goat, you can sustain nourishment not only for your child, but jobs for the villagers and food for the community! Your one time gift goes a long way.<br /><br />World vision does <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> accept gifts in the form of presents - monetary gifts only.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">*While World Vision is a Christian based organization, one does <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> need to be a member of faith, support Christianity, and/or be affiliated with religion in any way, shape, or form - to donate. You can simply base your trust into World Vision's clout by reviewing their audits online. I, for one, donate to World Vision simply because they have been audited, and the reports have been made public. A whopping 85 percent of donated funds go directly to your sponsor child and to his or her community. World Vision is a legitimate organization, and, after much research, I found them to possess the most clout. </span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://righttolifetoronto.org/index.php?id=35"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 201px; height: 60px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SS99U4Qv2lI/AAAAAAAAATs/DxA0uaoJfr8/s320/header_logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273571486327626322" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Toronto Right To Life.</span><br />This is <span style="font-style: italic;">the</span> most important cause that I believe in. With an estimated 1 MILLION babies aborted each year in the U.S.A. alone, abortions have surpassed epidemic proportions and is vastly being utilized as a form of birth control.<br /><br />With tape recorded evidence (<a href="http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08022802.html">view story by clicking this link</a>) of racially motivated donations in support of abortions carried out on minorities, specifically those carried out upon black babies, and the proliferation of abortion clinics, densely numbered in urban communities, to the 'Plan B' drug becoming available over the counter without a prescription or parental consent, to young 'hip' ads - in support of the drug - appearing on mass user social networking sites like <span style="font-style: italic;">Myspace</span>, which target teens - young adults, growing up in an ever expanding liberal mindset of (a) nation(s) - are being brainwashed into thinking and accepting that the cessation of the life of an unborn child(s) is a sound form of birth control.<br /><br />Since the inception of the war overseas, (and at the time of this blog posting), an estimated 4207 American casualties have been reported overseas in Iraq, while an estimated <span style="font-weight: bold;">5 MILLION</span> babies on American soil have perished before even breathing a first breath.<br /><br />Whether you are pro choice, or pro life, the Right to Life Campaign can benefit from your monetary donations.<br /><br />As aforementioned, we live in a rapidly expanding liberal continent, where decisions such as Roe v. Wade will likely never see a reverse; therefore, by supporting and or donating to any Right To Life Organization, people who sit on both sides of the political spectrum can expect to support - not the abolition of what have been declared to be existing, present day 'constitutional rights' (if that is what you believe)- but rather, one's funds would go directly toward providing sexual and reproductive education to teens of <span style="font-style: italic;">all</span> financial classes, sexes, and creeds; with the ultimate goal of broadening the Pro-Life audience <span style="font-style: italic;">outside</span> of the Catholic community, thereby establishing the movement as a non partisan, non religious doctrine of knowledge and`a resource of information.<br /><br />One of <span style="font-style: italic;">the</span> most important factors in supporting the Right To Life is providing young women with <span style="font-style: italic;">options</span> that she may not know exist to her. She may be scared, alone, and without financial support to rear her child. Sadly, there are many young women who enter into an irreversible decision of abortion due to simple ignorance surrounding emotional therapy, adoption centres, housing, and other affordable and/or free services available to her. She may not even be aware of the Safe Haven program, operated in most states, that allow a new mother to 'drop off' her baby, anonymously, at a safe location where she can rest assured that her child will be well taken care of and placed into a loving home. Unfortunately, many women are lead to believe that abortion is their only choice - and therefore first, and last - resort.<br /><br />The emotional trauma a woman undergoes after losing her child is one that can never be repaired, and can plague her for years following the abortion, causing a myriad of serious, and sometimes fatal - mental and physical repercussions that can last a lifetime.<br /><br />No woman should ever be left with only one option. It is the ultimate goal of the Right to Life to be heard; to abolish 'abstinence only' sex education in school curriculum,replacing it with a thorough outline of sexual health, disease prevention and control, pregnancy options, and emotional support.<br /><br />In addition to providing education and options for pregnant mothers, monetary donations to the Right To Life also assist in providing volunteer counseling services - men and women affected by abortion and/or who believe in the Pro Life Cause, who work around the clock to provide in office or over the telephone support to those considering suicide, or who have been left emotionally crippled in the aftermath of an abortion.<br /><br />It is a common misconception that the pro-life movement is one that exists only within the confines of a religion. This is simply not accurate.<br /><br />Whether you believe in a Deity or in science, are pro choice, or pro life - there are unlimited reasons to support <span style="font-style: italic;">full and thorough education, counseling, and options</span> to women in need.<br /><br />The Right To Life is quite possibly one of the most important causes supporting humanity.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloodservices.ca/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: none; cursor: pointer; width: 109px; height: 48px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RsJYn79VqzI/AAAAAAAAAD0/1KVvMhM28Mo/s400/cblsvc.gif" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">BLOOD DONATION - Canada</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.redcross.org/donate/give/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 109px; height: 48px;" src="http://www.redcross.org/cda/images/homemasthd.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">BLOOD DONATION - AMERICA</span><br />I have tried to become a blood donor, but am medically unable to do so. There are certain requirements for blood donation, they can be found by clicking <a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=35828686&amp;postID=1010604198333807594#0107" style="text-decoration: none;">here</a>, which will transport you further down on my blog where you can read more to find out if you are qualified.<br /><br />As said, I have been excluded from being able to donate blood; if you wish to donate in my name, or yours, that would be a lovely gift.<br /><br /><a href="https://torontohumanesociety-donate.akaraisin.com/%28w3oowt3uzof35j55ranu55bx%29/DonationType.aspx"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/bunnyinabananasuit/RsJahb9Vq0I/AAAAAAAAAD8/LLcDmf3bB0M/torontohumanesocietybanner.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">TORONTO HUMANE SOCIETY.</span> You all were fantastic at moving forward the petition for the reinstatement of Tre Smith as a Humane Officer back when he was stripped of his duties. Not only did you show that you are a fanbase that appreciates beyond the physical - you reached out to a cause of importance not only to me, but to the welfare of all animals.<br /><br />Did you know? The Humane Society took note of your efforts, and contacted me <span style="font-style: italic;">directly</span> to make a request that I speak with politicians after they saw the petition, that once stood at a standstill, gain a whopping 440 signatures in only 24 hours after I put out a mass email to my fans! Make no mistake, you were definitely a part of that movement. The petition continued to gain signatures, and made not only the news, but successfully pressured the Ontario government to implement immediate changes, which included an annual budget increase of $381 000, and improved training sessions for animal investigators!<br /><br />I don't think I had ever been so proud of my fan base than I was at that moment.<br /><br />But when it comes to rescuing animals in need, one's work is never finished.<br /><br />You can do your part this season, and all year round by encouraging shelter adoptions only, and by not purchasing animal toys or food in retail pet adoption stores, as they support and are provided animals by breeders.<br /><br />There is enough of a population crisis as it is in Humane Societies; there is simply no need for breeders, especially when animals are brought up in inhumane puppy mills and kitty mills, and/or are tortured, bred to attack, beaten, and ultimately euthanized, simply for lack of space.<br /><br />At one point this past year, the pet population at the Humane Society in Toronto was so severe that cats and kittens had to live in portable carrying cages!<br /><br />There are many times year round where Humane Societies and local shelters offer free adoptions backed with full immunizations of all species of pets - not just cats and dogs!<br /><br />You can extend your good cheer 365 days a year by informing anyone who is looking to adopt and/or purchase a pet about the benefits of adoption through Shelters and Humane Societies..and yes, <span style="font-style: italic;">you can</span> adopt pure bred animals and infant pets provided you arrive early in the day, as they adopt fast. Inquire with each shelter about their busiest days if you have a specific breed in mind.<br /><br />Other ways to support the humane society involve monthly and or one time donations, or, if you have no money to give, you can donate your Canadian Tire money by mailing it in, and/or you can donate your points on participating shopping store credit cards, such as the HBC Rewards card in Canada. You can cancel at anytime, or even reverse the donation if you change your mind. But just think, with your points, bowls, blankets, toys, and chewing bones can be bought for animals waiting to be adopted. Points are as good as cash! Click <a href="http://www.hbc.com/HBCREWARDS/program/community/supportMember/search.asp?TF=COMMUNITY&amp;NAV=COMMUNITY&amp;NAVSEL=COMSEARCH&amp;langid=EN&amp;catid=&amp;imgthumb=False&amp;SUBNAV=&amp;MSCSProfile=61E4CECF7275066FD87B9817DA5865CB47EC882CFE6A8DDB82FAFF1765EC1578741C9FF0E78C44D022F439DEFC555086D7DA6BACEFBC501CDC90A3D08B44F250134C23CBADCE9609774EA4FD8D34AA9D8F3A2E29F02520F15A290A5C52DDE5F444C172D3CEE5DE9C199C7D55F5AD4A1B47C720D2CE58237EFFB82375A832807CDF2F3BAD59EA7E82">here</a> to donate HBC Points! simply enter 1111111 in the 'Community Organization Public ID number' field, and select 'Ontario' in the 'Province' field; you can leave all other fields empty - by clicking on 'Continue', the Humane Societies full information should come up, and you will be well on your way toward donating!<br /><br />If you prefer to donate to the Humane Society directly via credit card or cheque, monthly, or one time only, click on the image of the dog above to be directed to the Toronto Humane Society website. Your monetary donations provide financial assistance to integral programs and services such as "foster care, adoption and cruelty investigations" for abused, unwanted, and neglected animals and healthy animals in need of medical care and/or a loving home.<br /><br />Thank you and enjoy the holidays!<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><h2><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Boy In The Striped Pajamas</span></span></h2><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/STDm5E6sK8I/AAAAAAAAAT8/EAzvDChdQFo/s1600-h/boy_in_the_striped_pajamas.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/STDm5E6sK8I/AAAAAAAAAT8/EAzvDChdQFo/s320/boy_in_the_striped_pajamas.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273969031897689026" border="0" /></a> If you haven't already seen this film and are wondering what is worth watching at the movies, The Boy In The striped Pajamas is IT.<br /><br />I have been to cineplexes around the globe, and aside from the industry state of California, (who stay for different reasons altogether) I have never seen an audience so emotionally overwhelmed that for what seemed like almost 2 minutes into the credits rolling - everyone in the room stayed silent and still in their seats.<br /><br />I only realized after that many were trying to contain themselves as I bore witness to tear-strewn cheeks and bloodshoot eyes of almost everyone in attendance as they walked out of the theatre.<br /><br />I bawled..I mean..BAWLED..and have never actually continued crying well into the credits in any other film. That was a first for me.<br /><br />Predictable, perhaps - but the actor selection was on point and their performances were superb - and one of the major underlying elements of the film - innocence - perfectly executed.<br /><br />View the trailer below.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oFkMTN439g0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oFkMTN439g0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />______________________________________________________<br /><h3><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />AN AWESOME QUOTE FROM A HILARIOUS SERIES..<span style="font-style: italic;">BOSTON LEGAL!</span></span></h3><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://righttolifetoronto.org/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://righttolifetoronto.org/images/theme_4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5045937049818871698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">"You pro choice people..you <span style="font-style: italic;">need</span> Roe vs. Wade - <span style="font-style: italic;">you're desperate for it</span> - not because you're sure of your opinion, but because you're not; you..need to cling to that ruling as moral validation for a position you're not entirely comfortable with....<span style="font-style: italic;">deep down</span>." </span><br /><br />-<span style="font-style: italic;"> Denny Fu__ing Crane.</span><br /><br />APPLAUSE. STANDING OVATION!<br /><br /><a href="http://righttolifetoronto.org/index.php?id=35"><img src="http://righttolifetoronto.org/img/volunteer_1.jpg" /></a><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >ZEN: My Favorite Proses:</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/Sc7EpF8NYcI/AAAAAAAAAZs/mGdL4p3OFA4/s1600-h/buddaincense.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 193px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/Sc7EpF8NYcI/AAAAAAAAAZs/mGdL4p3OFA4/s400/buddaincense.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318404420219527618" /></a> Many of you know that I am half Chinese, and at the very heart of my heritage lies the practice of meditation and the art of zen and tranquility. The following zen proses are among my very favorite, and their deep and intricate meanings transcend all walks of life, all faiths, and in void of all faiths.<br /><br />They are:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">"NO RUBBISH"</span> -Morinaga Soko, IN Zen: Tradition & Transition.</span><br /><br />The first task I was given was to sweep the garden with a bamboo broom....So I grasped my broom and swept mightily and soon had a mountain of leaves. I asked, "Roshi, where should I put all of this rubbish?" hoping he would see how good I had been. He immediately roared, "Leaves are not rubbish!...Go to the shed and bring any empty charcoal sacks you find there." Coming back, I found the Roshi vigorously raking through the pile of leaves so that any stones or gravel fell to the bottom. He then took the sacks and filled them to the very last leaf, packing them tightly with his feet. "Now go put these back in the shed," he said. "They're kindling for the bath fire."<br /><br />When I...came back I saw the Roshi squatting on the ground picking out the small stones from what remained. When he had carefully gathered them together to the very last tiny pebble, he said, "Now put these beneath the eaves."...I was still quite sure that the remaining lumps of earth and scraps of moss could serve no useful purpose. Yet the Roshi just collected them together without fuss and placed them on the palm of his hand. Searching patiently, he put the lumps of earth into depressions in the ground, then firmed them in with his foot until nothing remained. He said, "Now do you understand a little? Originally, there is no rubbish in either men or things."<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">RED LIGHT</span> -Thich Nhat Hanh, IN Present Moment, Wonderful Moment.</span><br /><br />When we are driving, we tend to think of arriving, and we sacrifice the journey for the sake of the arrival. But life is to be found in the present moment, not in the future. In fact, we may suffer more after we arrive at our destination. If we have to talk of a destination, what about our final destination, the graveyard? We do not want to go in the direction of death; we want to go into the direction of life. But where is life? Life can only be found in the present moment. Therefore, each mile we drive, each step we take, has to bring us into the present moment. This is the practice of mindfulness.<br /><br />When we see a red light or a stop sign, we can smile at it and thank it, because it is a Bodhisattva helping us return to the present moment. The red light is a bell of mindfulness. We may have thought of it as our enemy, preventing us from achieving our goal. But now we know the red light is our friend, helping us resist rushing and calling us to return to the present moment where we can meet with life, joy, and peace.<br /> <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">MY WORLD</span> -Kosho Uchiyama, IN Opening The Hand Of Thought.</span><br /><br />Whatever way you put it, I am here only because my world is here. When I took my first breath, my world was born with me. When I die, my world dies with me. In other words, I wasn't born into a world that was already here before me, nor do I live simply as one individual among millions of other individuals, nor do I leave everything behind to live on after me. People live thinking of themselves as members of a group or society. However, this isn't really true. Actually, I bring my own world into existence, live it out, and take it with me when I die....<br /><br />I can't stress enough how essential it is to look very, very carefully at this self that runs through everything in the universe. You live together with your world. Only when you thoroughly understand this will everything in the world settle as the self pervading all things. As Buddhists, this is our vow, or the direction we face. In other words, we vow to save all sentient beings so that this self may become even more itself. This is our life direction.<br /><br />Shakyamuni said it this way: "All worlds are my world and all sentient beings-people, things, and situations-are my children."<br /><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">CONGRATULATIONS, DEMOCRATS!</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SRPG4_Wpq7I/AAAAAAAAATM/47ol6-1SDpg/s1600-h/balloom.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 167px; height: 195px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SRPG4_Wpq7I/AAAAAAAAATM/47ol6-1SDpg/s320/balloom.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265771071707655090" border="0" /></a> I cant say I agree with the politics of the left, and I can't say I would ever vote left..but I absolutely can and do appreciate what a beautiful moment today marked in not only American history, but for western culture as a whole, by electing the first Black President. To see how far we as a western civilization have come, and to, perhaps prove a greater acceptance and insight regarding white-black relations by having Obama selected by people of all shades and creeds..is extremely moving, and is something to be commended, no matter what side of the political spectrum one may fall on. Seeing the Obama family on stage, was not only historic, but absolutely beautiful..and, although I fundamentally view the world from a different perspective, I am proud and glad to be alive to witness such growth.<br /><br />For that, I can put aside personal beliefs and politics..and say..congratulations on the win, Democrats.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SPU0fjomlpI/AAAAAAAAAS8/modlBNg7-jo/s1600-h/funnystopsign.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SPU0fjomlpI/AAAAAAAAAS8/modlBNg7-jo/s320/funnystopsign.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257165856771053202" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ELITISTS: <span style="font-style: italic;">non grata.</span></span><br /><br />I cannot even begin to explain how much I LOATHE all of the hatred running rampant this election.<br /><br />The mudslinging and shit hurling from Democrats toward Republicans, from Republicans toward Democrats - enough already!<br /><br />You are an embarrassment not only to yourself, but to everyone who shares with you your ideals.<br /><br />At the end of the day, I think it can reasonably argued that what both sides seek is an outcome of peace, restoration of economic power and world opinion, and, some semblance of unity and civilized culture.<br /><br />The very notion that both sides seek some sense of equality - is hurled through the window, over the fence, and into the gutter - when we bastardize the <span style="font-style: italic;">very first step </span>of attaining any form of equality: when we fail to <span style="font-style: italic;">listen</span>.<br /><br />So listen up Republicans and Democrats, it isn't all about you. Remove ego from the equation, sit back, and listen to your opposition.<br /><br />Don't call out juvenile names.<br /><br />Ideals, by their very definition, can NOT be classified as "STUPID."<br /><br />As obscene a belief as you may bear listening to, keep in mind that we are all products of our own environments; those of us whom are not self imposed conformists have our own thoughts..based on our own perspective..based on our own unique experiences.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Re-define</span> your definition of 'Equality'. When you proudly proclaim it as a right, teach <span style="font-style: italic;">not through words alone</span>, but through <span style="font-style: italic;">action</span>.<br /><br />As an Independent, yet heavily leaning Conservative (I do take a different stance on the war, which separates me from a large sector in the Right), I am both astonished and disappointed to find how substantial the occurrence is of political warfare, particularly in reference toward the Right.<br /><br />I felt inspired to pen my own feelings on the demise of the skilled debatee in reference to politics - in the form of a poem I will paste below.<br /><br />I call it "A Napoleon Complex".<br /><br />It is based on my experience as a Conservative in debate, and the debates I have bore witness to between the Right and the Left. It also is an example of how to present a political perspective without succumbing to typical pitfalls of a failed debate speech. I have been called every name in the book, and yes, I have bore witness to mudslinging derivative of like-minded debatees as well (although to a far lesser extent).<br /><br />While my poem below does, at times, hint at my own political perspective, it's main emphasis is placed on detailing the hypocrisy in juvenile retorts - in labeling those opposed to your ideals; the unjust adverse effects of stereotype and the damage pacification enlists on society.<br /><br />This poem is therefore relevant to Independent voters, Republicans, and Democrats alike, and is a testament to the inalienable Right to <span style="font-style: italic;">Freedom of Expression</span> - a value we so claim to hold dear, yet continue to pervert at it's very core.<br /><br />One can debate <span style="font-style: italic;">decorously</span> and not be a pacifist. Therein lies the <span style="font-style: italic;">key</span> toward healthy convergence of opinion: the celebration of a <span style="font-style: italic;">protected</span> dialogue in a <span style="font-style: italic;">free</span> nation amongst a <span style="font-style: italic;">civilized</span> people.<br /><br />THAT is one of the first steps toward restoring a public opinion: by healing, from the <span style="font-style: italic;">inside out</span>.<br /><br />My poem: (*This my truncated version, the full version of my poem has an extension in the 13th section that I am not including here).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />A NAPOLEON COMPLEX</span><br /><br /><br />"A Napoleon Complex – so blind yet obscene<br />Like an incubus invading - raping you in your dream<br /><br />A Napoleon Complex – so loud and obnoxious<br />Your dissidence toward opposition leaves the world toxic<br /><br />And our streets are left to bastards - The result, chaotic<br /><br />No government, no crusader, no leader<br />A Napoleon Complex fueled by anger<br /><br />Pacify the truth<br />by using in vain the name of the troops<br /><br />Measuring the bloodshed of civilians overseas<br />Blindly batting an eye to the slaughter of 8 million babies<br /><br />On your own soil<br /><br />Where an illegal malefactor toils<br />As you earn your riches - and lash out at <span style="font-style: italic;">Right Wing “Pig Capitalists”<br /></span><br />You hypocrites<br /><br />Who proclaim loudly<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />"equality!"</span><br /><br />but <span style="font-style: italic;">fraud by citizen</span> would land <span style="font-style:italic;">you</span> in a penitentiary<br /><br />While Jesus gets a slap on the wrist –<br />And in his pocket,<br /><br />A stolen license,<br />an assumed identity<br /><br />in a broken system<br />where the condemned walk free<br />(the Courts pressured by what they call 'amnesty')<br /><br />as millions are now pushed<br />to the back of the list<br /><br />Jesus was last seen<br />building casinos in Vegas<br /><br />A Napoleon Complex<br />So thunderous is your cry, through threats and labels<br /><br />an unjust endeavor,<br />to hatch a good man despised<br /><br />in the public eye<br /><br />Donning upon the other side:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">'racists, war mongers and dangerous Creationists'</span><br />(those who diverge quickly make the list)<br /><br />..of devils, heathens and pitchfork wielders,<br />Jobs lost and rights stripped through rallies and self elected leaders<br /><br />who scandalize the names of your forefathers<br /><br />A slap in the face to those who perished in the making of history,<br />In your self proclaimed democracy<br /><br />Where conformists and pacifists join hands<br />To abolish the First Amendment<br /><br />Toward opposing thought,<br />Labeling it hate speech, bigotry and the quest to segregate<br /><br />With a straight face<br /><br />The kettle calling the pot black in the mission of peace<br /><br />A Napoleon Complex<br />can find the strongest of men bound in chains<br /><br />if listening to only one opinion<br />is the sole idea of change".<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-RJ</span><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">DIG.</span></span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MZVScLWMb6k&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MZVScLWMb6k&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />"So when weakness turns my ego up<br />I know you'll count on the me from yesterday.<br /><br />If I turn into another<br />dig me up from under what is covering<br />the better part of me. "<br /><br />-Brandon Boyd, Incubus</span><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >I WILL BE ADDING </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">..some of my favorite videos..</span></span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//face.jpg" /><br /><br />on my Youtube channel. If you want to check them out, visit my channel by clicking <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/RosalyndJoyce">here</a>. Sorry, all comment functions are disabled. Yep, I am outing myself by showing my real name!<br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >A STANDING OVATION. </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Beck sums up once again, everything I think!</span></span><br /><br />If you are familiar with the Rivera/O'Reilly debate (if you can even call Rivera's lame retort to racial discrimination a plausible opposing argument), then Beck's rebuttal is a MUST SEE.<br /><br />It's high time people learn the difference between racism, discrimination, prejudice and stereotype.<br /><br />It's even higher a time to know when NONE of them are being used on you! One thing I never understood is why it seems that, from the mouths of those who cry 'racism' over every little discrepancy in their life, comes a blatant disregard and disrespect to one's own history and lineage and ignorance toward one's very own upbringing.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />'Crying wolf'</span> over racism when the subject and/or subject matter has nothing at all to do with racism is not only a cheap shot, it's a cop out.<br /><br />And just plain disrespectful to people who actually <span style="font-style: italic;">are</span> victims of racial discrimination. If people want the subject matter to be taken more seriously, they need to stop throwing the term around to try to belittle their debating opponent.<br /><br />Character assassination is one of the all time lows of an uncredited, unskilled debatee.<br /><br />Glenn Beck, you nailed it..I couldn't have said it better myself.<br /><br />Check out the vid below.<br /><br />(FYI: In the original debate, the subject matter was about an illegal immigrant who killed not one, but two American Citizens in a traffic accident, an illegal who had been convicted FOUR TIMES. Rivera immediately went on an illogical tangent that O'Reilly was becoming a member of the "<span style="font-style: italic;">Lou Dobbs' mob</span>" (another cheapshot)..with hardon for excavating and humiliating illegals. "What if his name was Bubba, or Bob?" he retorts. Uh, really, Rivera? I find it pretty lame that Rivera twisted a topic of immigration into a personal attack on race. I reckon Rivera is a victim, not of racism, but of one of two things, (or quite possibly, a combination of both of the following:)<br /><br />a) Racial Insecurity/ unfounded inferiority complex. (Hey, HE was the one who jumped the gun and made it a race issue - the topic was illegals, Rivera!)<br /><br />b) Racism (by his standards). Come on, how many white guys, even in the south, do you know named Bubba? Why cite clearly Caucasian names? If Rivera wants to twist the word "illegals" into "racist" - why cant he seem to remember that there are European illegals in America? Why not say Sven? Why Bubba and Bob? More importantly, why cite a Caucasian name at all? What, a white guy can't use the word "illegal" without being first and foremost, a racist? Sounds like someone has what is called a <span style="font-style: italic;">pre-conceived</span> notion of white people. By today's standards, <span style="font-style: italic;">pre-conceived notions</span> would equate to <span style="font-style: italic;">racial stereotype.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Whoops.</span><br /><br />Perhaps a reminder memo should be sent to rivera on the fundamental differences in the definitions of the two terms. They are not, and never have been - synonymous.<br /><br />See:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">results for: racist<br />Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) rac·ism Audio Help /ˈreɪsɪzəm/ Pronunciation[rey-siz-uhm] Pronunciation Key -<br />–noun</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.<br />2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.<br />3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">1. a foreigner who has entered or resides in a country unlawfully or without the country's authorization.<br />2. a foreigner who enters the U.S. without an entry or immigrant visa, esp. a person who crosses the border by avoiding inspection or who overstays the period of time allowed as a visitor, tourist, or businessperson. Compare resident alien.<br />Also called illegal immigrant.</span><br /><br />See the original video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhwwbNA3hjg">here</a>, and Glenn Beck's rebuttal below.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ShgEiM4OvF0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ShgEiM4OvF0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The video has been taken off of Youtube, so below is the transcript, courtesy of <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0704/12/gb.01.html">CNN.com</a>:</span><br /><br />"BECK: You know the problem is we`re not listening to each other on illegal immigration anymore. What else is new? Emotions boiled over last week in a debate between Bill O`Reilly and Geraldo Rivera on FOX News. They were talking about an illegal immigrant with three previous alcohol- related convictions who killed two teenagers when driving drunk.<br /><br />(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)<br /><br />RIVERA: My nightmare is my daughters having anything to do with a person driving drunk. That`s my nightmare.<br /><br />O`REILLY: OK.<br /><br />RIVERA: It could be a Jewish drunk. It could be a Polish drunk.<br /><br />O`REILLY: But this guy didn`t have to be here.<br /><br />RIVERA: It could be an Irish drunk.<br /><br />O`REILLY: No.<br /><br />RIVERA: It could be an Italian drunk. What the hell difference does it make?<br /><br />(CROSSTALK)<br /><br />O`REILLY: It makes plenty of difference!<br /><br />RIVERA: It does not, Bill.<br /><br />O`REILLY: He doesn`t have a right to be here!<br /><br />RIVERA: He didn`t commit a felony.<br /><br />O`REILLY: He doesn`t have a right to be in this country!<br /><br />(END VIDEO CLIP)<br /><br />BECK: You know what? Geraldo is right on one thing. It doesn`t matter if they`re Jewish, Polish, Irish, Hispanic, from Mars, it doesn`t matter! What matters is, is the person here legally? Race has nothing to do with this debate; it`s about the law. Geraldo went on.<br /><br />(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)<br /><br />RIVERA: Do you know how many people we have in jail? How many of them are illegal aliens? Illegal aliens commit crimes at a lower rate than citizens do.<br /><br />(END VIDEO CLIP)<br /><br />BECK: Well, unless 100.1 percent of U.S. citizens are committing crimes, I can assure you that that isn`t true. Every single illegal immigrant is guilty of a crime, every single one. Thus, the word "illegal."<br /><br />And many times, not just one crime. How about creating false documents or buying false IDs? Would you and I get away with that? How about dodging taxes? If they do pay them, how about the part about signing the name, putting false information on the tax return, and then signing your name to it? Those are crimes that you and I would go to jail for or at least pay a very hefty fine.<br /><br />The study that I think Geraldo is trying to cite was all about immigrants, not illegal immigrants. It includes everything from legal immigrants, who go through layers of criminal screening before they get here, all the way to college kids on student visas. You know what? If we`re screening them, there should be a lower incidence of crime.<br /><br />Here`s one more clip from Geraldo on illegal immigrants.<br /><br />(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)<br /><br />RIVERA: We have lured these people...<br /><br />O`REILLY: Oh, yeah.<br /><br />RIVERA: ... with a promise of jobs in a country with basically full domestic employment.<br /><br />O`REILLY: All right.<br /><br />RIVERA: We have, for decades, lured them here.<br /><br />(END VIDEO CLIP)<br /><br />BECK: Don`t make blood shoot out of my eyes. We do send mixed messages to illegals, considering our government doesn`t seem to care enough about anything about their constant arrival. But luring them? Why, because we have nice stuff? Am I luring people into my house because I have a TiVo? If we`re luring anything, anybody, in Mexico, it`s that we`re luring them into adopting our system. We are a commercial for prosperity through freedom. Instead of depending on us, Mexico, you should focus on replicating our system until we`re lured down there."<br /><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >EAR IRRIGATION! </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Symphony never sounded so sweet.<br /></span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories/mbstuff/mbmabprofintropic.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories/mbstuff/mbmabprofintropic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5045937049818871698" border="0" /></a> I just got my ear irrigated, and I am going back to get my other one irrigated as well, and I am excited!<br /><br />I honestly thought my hearing was unflawed, but after getting my left ear irrigated (I had to - after so many years of using earplugs, I woke up one morning with severe loss of hearing in the ear - temporary) - wow! I realized just how noisy the world really is, and I can really hear the difference between what is my unaffected ear, and my newly cleaned ear - absolutely unbelievable....the slightest sounds and tones can be heard with razor sharp precision now - it took some getting used to at first - the sounds in the world around me seemed almost <span style="font-style: italic;">too loud</span> as strange as that sounds - but once I got used to my newly found improvement, I put Liberace on blast..and symphony has never sounded so extraordinary to me as it does now. The world just became a lot more beautiful!<br /><br />The only con to the very many pros of irrigation is that you develop, temporarily, severe, and I do mean severe - vertigo. Hence why many people have to get only one ear done at a time. I was pretty much knocked out the rest of the day, very nauseous and dizzy..but again..I am totally loving my new sensations..my unaffected/un-irrigated ear, to my huge surprise, has a very noticeable difference, and I cant believe I haven't been hearing 100 percent all this time - I absolutely never questioned it.<br /><br />You'd be surprised just how much audible sensations you are depriving yourself of un-irrigated!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">How it's done:</span></span> In a medical setting only with a GP or ENT; a thick, large syringe (there are no injections involved) is filled with saline water and propelled with a controlled-force jet release into the canal, flushing wax/debris out into a basin held under the ear..I had a quadruple clean on my left ear..I had no idea one ear could carry so much gunk!<br /><br />I cant recommend this highly enough!<br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >LOVE. </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//memarcianofcnrt.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//memarcianofcnrt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5045937049818871698" border="0" /></a> There are moments in my life, where, despite the mail from fans, the catcalls in the street, the amazing work offers with amazing people..even I, can feel alone.<br /><br />One of the common misconceptions about being the source of admiration of any kind is that the recipient must be utterly emotionally fulfilled. What debunks such a misconception is the reality that, for some people, questioning the motives, intent, and sincerity of everyone around oneself becomes a chore, of which one is forced to comply.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//meunretouched01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//meunretouched01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5045937049818871698" border="0" /></a> But every now and then, people positively surprise me. With these people, love knows no bounds, asks no questions, and seeks nothing in return.<br /><br />I am dedicating this entry to such a man..who reconnected with me recently; your love is exuberant without the need for verbal affirmation; it has stood the test of time, and has been omnipresent throughout every walk and phase of my life thus far.<br /><br />You came back into my life, and spoiled me - you asked for nothing in return, verbally, or figuratively..you treated me like a Princess, and tended to my every want, my every need..<br /><br />and you are one of the rare gems in my life who I know, beyond any doubt..look at me as the same person you met so very many moons ago. The chivalrous and generous you of today..is the replica of the man I've known since we first laid eyes on each other.<br /><br />I thank you for your love, and for your company..you are a true treasure in my life.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">DEDICATED TO ALL HUMAN BEINGS..</span></span><br /><br />Wow. Gnarls....lays..it..OUT.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/X8R42ZU10Ko&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/X8R42ZU10Ko&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >GNARLS BARKLEY</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Who's [sic] Gonna Save My Soul?</span></span><br /><br />I came across the video below by soul singer Gnarls Barkley..and I must say, I am really digging it for it's simple, yet, accurate message.<br /><br />The message the video conveys (at least from my perspective) is the cycle that is oftentimes created as a direct result of being treated poorly in a relationship. Those memories and emotions that are often tantamount to a viscous repetitive pattern of the heartbreakee becoming heartbreaker to their future lover.<br /><br />Being on the reciprocal end of having been treated poorly, can often mean you will treat the next person in your life poorly because of bitterness, lost innocence, and unattained expectations in yourself, the other person, and as a couple.<br /><br />I have always believed that being treated in an ill manner by a loved one causes a person to lose a slice of naivete - that one time <span style="font-style: italic;">innocence</span> of not only trust, but also of what one expected to give and receive in a union of love; instilling, often times, a paranoid and/or skewed vision of anyone in the future.<br /><br />There are pros of being a heartbreakee, of course; in that, through losing a slice of innocence, naivete, or dignity, one gains experience, and wisdom; one knows what he or she wants in a future mate, and what red flags to look out for.<br /><br />Adhering and listening to those flags though - are another story.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Highlight of the video!* </span>Check out the part where 'he' sings "Is it possible you were hurt worse than me?"..and the ex-girlfriend (the heartbreakER)..nods, a sad affirmative..even though in the video, she plays a very self centered, user, dismissive role..ergo, she has been hurt in the past by another lover, and, in turn, she hurts her current lover by being emotionally vacuous; while he - the heartbreakEE..confesses that he will never look at a future woman with the full innocence trust, and fairness that a new lover deserves..making him a very possible future heatbreakER</span>.<br /><br />Such a small line, in such a short video..but how immense the message!</span><br /><br />For anyone who has been a heartbreaker, or heartbreakee..check out the video below.<br /><br />It's pretty..<span style="font-style: italic;">Gnarl-y</span>! (LOL..I know, I know, lame joke..I just had to!)<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kTVSygNKAsg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kTVSygNKAsg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >A STEAMING HOT</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Personal Ad.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SKCVnTLWiUI/AAAAAAAAASc/eolgpsLVxLQ/s1600-h/_MG_2915.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SKCVnTLWiUI/AAAAAAAAASc/eolgpsLVxLQ/s400/_MG_2915.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233347269399841090" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SKvricoSXDI/AAAAAAAAAS0/UNkp2rytA88/s1600-h/Americaandsocanyou.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SKvricoSXDI/AAAAAAAAAS0/UNkp2rytA88/s320/Americaandsocanyou.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236537968781581362" border="0" /></a><br />Hello!<br /><br />I'm your soul mate, the one person on this earth who's perfect for you in every way. Yes, I exist, and yes, everyone else you've been with is a pale substitute. We're meant to be together, but we've never met.<br /><br />You see, there are 6 billion people in this world and you encounter at most 1,000 people per day, so statistically our paths would cross only once every 16,500 years. If we're going to beat those odds you need to work harder, because so far you've done a spectacular job of messing this up.<br /><br />Remember when you bought that pack of gum and the clerk asked you if you wanted a bag, but you were in a rush so you said no? If you'd waited that extra three seconds you would have missed the next train, making you late for the play, so they wouldn't have let you in the theater until the first scene was over, and I would have entered the lobby - also late - and we'd have gotten to talking. We probably would have just skipped the play and gotten coffee and then... Pow! Fifty years of golden summers at the lake house.<br /><br />Another example: remember when you signed up for a yoga class? You should have signed up for a pottery class. I was taking a pottery class! How hard is that to figure out? And don't just sign up for a pottery class next time, because I might have moved on to hip-hop cardio. I can't tell you exactly where I'll be because if you're really my soul mate you'll just know. Please get it right. Last time, I dealt with my disappointment by sleeping with the pottery instructor.<br /><br />I guess what I'm saying is, next time you think about going to the museum today instead of tomorrow when I'll be there, ask yourself: do you really want to spend the rest of your life alone? Are you going to take the bus or walk? If you do walk and it's raining, how are you going to see me under my umbrella, unless I don't have one and you share yours, or I share mine and that's how we meet? So remember: never leave the house without an umbrella... or with one. It's your choice. I think I explained pretty clearly what's at stake.<br /><br />god, you're a slow reader.<br /><br />Point is , hanging over every decision you make, however small, is the sword of our loneliness. I am out there. Find me. But please hurry. I know we're meant to be together for eternity, but I can't wait forever.<br /><br />- Man, I freaking LOVE Stephen Colbert! Taken from I AM AMERICA (And So Can You!) Site: <a href="http://www.makemeamerica.com/">MakeMeAmerica</a><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSES.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SJyZGSZKkmI/AAAAAAAAASU/YtpMJCURGlg/s1600-h/metable.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: none; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SJyZGSZKkmI/AAAAAAAAASU/YtpMJCURGlg/s400/metable.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232225200393327202" border="0" /></a><br />A friend once told me that it is the people in whom you instill the most trust, that can cut the deepest wounds.<br /><br />Sadly, as I have grown older, I have found this to be true.<br /><br />I live in a world not of the norm to the average woman or man; I exist in a cesspool of pre-conceived notions at the hands of men and women confined to a school of thought littered with inaccuracies and stereotypes of what it must be like to be me.<br /><br />A princess, a prima donna, a bitch, <span style="font-style: italic;">a person who must not have to use her brain because men shell out luxuries at her very feet</span> kind of gal.<br /><br />An escort, a stripper, a high class hooker, a pornstar – whatever name they conjure up in order to appease the rage in their veins, the dent in their wallet from student loans, a mortgage, an alimony. A name to tame the beast that rages within their souls.<br /><br />Surely, upon stumbling onto my blog, and upon becoming aware that I have turned down numerous marriage proposals, sureshot chances at superstardom, multimillionaires, a billionaire, opportunities to be a high class call girl, catering to princes in the middle east, and famous men – shocks them. <span style="font-style: italic;">Awes them</span>.<br /><br />Only but, for a moment.<br /><br />I have found, among the attempted coattail leeches and phony friendships under the guise of possibly getting laid, and the men who want a trophy piece on their arm to just make it through that mid-life crisis, that, beneath it all, one really cannot change ill motives, or pre-conceived notions.<br /><br />I have found it is those who try with all their might to earn your trust, truly, earn it not to make another feel safe, but to appease themselves in a sordid game of cat and mouse, satiated fully upon retrieving one’s prey.<br /><br />After I posted my “People Really Suck” entry, I was swarmed with emails from my avid readers who are aware of who I am outside of my blog.<br /><br />Letters of support, letters of encouragement, and, what touched me most, letters spilling out life stories of my readers….seeking me as a release.<br /><br />While the intent of my last blog entry and this one was more of a release for myself, I deeply appreciate your stories and your emails.<br /><br />You give me hope and a sense of optimism if you will, that genuine people still do habituate in mankind..<br /><br />Even if <span style="font-style: italic;">People of Honor</span> are needles in haystacks.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >NANCY PELOSI'S SMACKDOWN ON THE INTERNET.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//politicblog.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//politicblog.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5045937049818871698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">No words.</span> Which I suppose, is in itself, a Freudian slip of sorts - or - an intended pun....<br /><br />because if pacifists like Pelosi continue to breed, all there will be left <span style="font-style: italic;">will be</span> silence.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Excerpt from Slashdot.org:</span><br /><br />"Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who would like very much to reimpose the old, so-called, "Fairness Doctrine" that once censored conservative opinion on television and radio broadcasting, is scheming to impose rules barring any member of Congress from posting opinions on any internet site without first obtaining prior approval from the Democratic leadership of Congress. No blogs, twitter, online forums — nothing"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The article:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/5951.html">http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/5951.html</a><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >PEOPLE </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">can really suck.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//legtubblog.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//legtubblog.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219986006772372322" border="0" /></a>Be it a guy or girl trying to ride coattails,<br /><br />a man who wants a trophy piece,<br /><br />a friend who doesn't know how to keep his trap shut,<br /><br />friends who don't know how to be platonic,<br /><br />a friend or lover who shares with you delicate moments of intimate persuasion - be it physical, emotional, or by trading 'war stories' - then one day, looks at you as if you are a stranger -<br /><br />or worse..<br /><br />you exist as two shades who never crossed paths, and you recollect divine memories, only to wonder <span style="font-style: italic;">did that even happen? did I imagine all of that? </span><br /><br />I am an analytical observer; bold, yet sensitive in nature. I value friendships, lovers, confidantes. I attempt to answer every question with something of which I deem to be logical, or at least somewhat fitting to the situation.<br /><br />Yet, going from something derivative of love (be it infatuation, admiration, or any opposite of hate) to a ghost - <span style="font-style: italic;">a stranger</span> -is something I have never been able to wrap my mind around, nor is it something I ever think I could even partially comprehend.<br /><br />Have we as a people really become so immersed in ourselves that we turn a blind eye and deaf ear toward those who helped us rise up when we fell, those who stood by us in times of triumph and despair, those who shared with us laughs, tears, passion, comfort, solace?<br /><br />Have our morals and ethics stooped so low as to put the rush in our genitals before our honor, our pride, even, our patriotism? Only to turn around and beg for what once ailed you when the object of your masochistic desire whips and lashes you, the one whom you downgraded to?<br /><br />Where are all the men and women of honor?<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >DUBAI GETS JUST A BIT COOLER. </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The World's Premier 78 floor unanimous rotating skyscraper.</span></span><br /><br />As if the <a href="http://www.crescent-hydropolis.com/">Hydropolis Hotel</a>, being fully immersed underwater, wasn't the <span style="font-style: italic;">raddest</span> hotel in the world, (next to Dubai's 7 Star Hotel, voted 'best in the world' - the <a href="http://www.burj-al-arab.com/">Burj-Al-Arab</a>) - Those dynamic folk out east with a niche for aesthetics and <span style="font-style: italic;">just plain freaking cool</span> have done it again, harboring the first 78 level multi rotation skyscraper / natural energy provider manufactured off site, and built of environmentally friendly, natural materials.<br /><br />Defying modern architecture as mankind knows it in present day, the continually morphing condominium places Dubai on the map of ingenuity and bad ass creativity.<br /><br />(Jump to 1:32 on the video to learn about the latest INSANE architectural development in the UAE. )<br /><br /><div><object width="420" height="339"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x2w5xd"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x2w5xd" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="420" height="339"></embed></object><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Excerpt from video:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"We have designed 78 floors that can rotate separately; changing every second the shape of the building...allowing a different building to come along in any moment. For the first time, man will have a building in four dimensions.<br /><br />...they are totally self-powered. Our architecture employs wind turbines positioned horizontally between each floor, which will produce energy for the building itself; and which will also supply energy for several other buildings...77 wind turbines, making the building also a power station, producing green energy for the city around it; so it's nature itself.<br /><br />..building our towers with a ready-made technology for a more efficient, and environment friendly implementation...the dynamic architecture is made of natural materials."</span><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SHsqSC0knXI/AAAAAAAAAR8/JbyDgsuyhys/s1600-h/ezlev.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SHsqSC0knXI/AAAAAAAAAR8/JbyDgsuyhys/s400/ezlev.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222814682349608306" border="0" /></a><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >ANONYMOUS 'COLUMNIST' AN EMBARRASSMENT TO JOURNALISM, RACIAL INTEGRATION &amp; JUST PLAIN COMMON SENSE.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SFwILFB14zI/AAAAAAAAARY/ndV4PWY7qBo/s1600-h/chicagotribune_logo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SFwILFB14zI/AAAAAAAAARY/ndV4PWY7qBo/s400/chicagotribune_logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214051455009678130" border="0" /></a>The Chicago Tribune recently ran a fairy tale regarding an unconfirmed rumor that Senator Obama's oft-foibled counterpart Michelle was once again, caught making some inappropriate remark about racial matters.<br /><br />In this alleged instance, she (allegedly) used the term 'whitey' - which, in turn, sparked an online riot, which begat a spew of ignorant, masochistic bullshit from a journalist too cowardly to pen his own name.<br /><br />In his 'article' he alleges the following:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">QUOTING ARTICLE:<br />"<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-change_whiteyjun15,0,981005.story">Whitey' fails to wound</a>"<br />Fellow slurs snicker at word's utterance<br /><br />Tribune staff report<br /><br />It's hard to come up with an ethnic slur that has less of a sting than "whitey."<br /><br />A prevalent yet unsubstantiated Internet rumor has it that Barack Obama's wife, Michelle, used this term at some point in a speech, and the Obama campaign is concerned enough to have posted an online rebuttal.<br /><br />I've got to ask, though. Are there really white people out there so ignorant of history, so unaware of the nuances of language and so threatened by minority grievances that they take genuine umbrage at the term "whitey"?<br /><br />More a taunt than a threat, the word has no ugly history and hints at no particular stereotypes. It may have been hurled in a menacing fashion in ugly personal confrontations from time to time, but it's never been used to keep a people down, to put them in their place, to rank them as subhuman.<br /><br />To be truly offensive, a derogatory term needs to have an ominous context that "whitey" lacks.<br /><br />Those who take offense are confusing prejudice—which is making negative assumptions about people based solely on external characteristics, of which all races and ethnicities are guilty—with racism, which is prejudice in action.<br /><br />It requires them to imagine that "whitey" marginalizes, diminishes and therefore harms white people.<br /><br />And if they're really that dumb, then I guess they deserve to be insulted."</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Dumb?</span></span> No, Mr. Anonymous. It's called not being a masochist. It's called having some damn pride. It's having some semblance of understanding as to what exactly the term <span style="font-style: italic;">equality</span> means, and how to set forth a movement toward fair and just racial integration.<br /><br />You sir, don't get it.<br /><br />It isn't about the obvious fact that 'whitey' connotates no distant racial upheaval or oppression - or even about the fact that the 'n' word, the 'c' word, the 'j' word, or any other racial slur carries an anvil of blasphemous history. Hey, I am the biggest advocate of free speech going, and even I don't use those words.<br /><br />It's not that Caucasians shouldn't feel insulted because they harbor no real lineage of slavery and oppression - its all about the fact that they CAN and SHOULD feel insulted - for the plain and simple reason -<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />THAT SOMEONE IS TRYING TO INSULT THEM!!</span><br /><br />How blind, ignorant, and subservient do you have to be, to NOT see the correlation between intended crass language and reactionary upset? Doesn't every action birth reaction? Are whites, who may or may not have had involvement in the slave trade many many years before their time supposed to be reprimanded for an unthinkable crime they did not commit? Are they not allowed to also feel shame for their forefathers? Are we to sit and take the abuse because that is what leads half witted folk like Mr. Anonymous of the Chicago Tribune to think verbally abusing Caucasians is the answer to forgiving the ills of our past ancestors?<br /><br />What about that good old saying that "two wrongs don't make a right?" I think that sentiment is pretty fitting here.<br /><br />While I would agree that in modern society, most have completely bastardized the term 'racism' coining it for prejudice and stereotype daily, I do NOT, in any way, shape, or form, support treating any race with more or less respect due to the color or lack thereof of ones skin, or ones history..<br /><br />that is the antithesis of EQUALITY, Mr. Anonymous!<br /><br />I wonder, just what it is exactly, that this 'reporter' is seeking. Is it integration? Surely, he must see on some level, that he isn't exactly treating all races fairly.<br /><br />Is it a game of verbal s&amp;m, a modern day sentencing for certain racial groups for something they know nothing about? What about Caucasians in mixed marriages? What about mixed children? What about mixed relationships? Are they to love and honor one of thier races and be ashamed of the other? Are they to say, respect one side of me, but say what ill you will about the other half? Yet demand r-e-s-p-e-c-t and equal treatment, equal opportunity?<br /><br />How in the world can you accomplish unified love and respect when you hold out your hand for a lashing?<br /><br />Mr. Anonymous, you ought to be downright ashamed.<br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >A HILARIOUS QUOTE BY PENN JILLETTE of Penn &amp; Teller's "Bullshit!" airing on Showtime.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SFYtdOdIzRI/AAAAAAAAARQ/xWzUX8u-R50/s1600-h/pennandteller.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SFYtdOdIzRI/AAAAAAAAARQ/xWzUX8u-R50/s400/pennandteller.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212403598847692050" border="0" /></a>If you haven't seen this show before, you really should check it out. Sure, most of what they talk about is common sense (well, at least to me it is), but the pranks, hilarity, and unabashed dialogue makes this series a favorite of mine.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Here is a quote from one of the early seasons:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">"</span>You'll notice more obscenities than we usually use - that's not just because we're on Showtime and we want to get some attention - it's also a legal matter!<br /><br />If one calls people <span style="font-style: italic;">liars</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">quacks</span>, one can be sued, and lose a lot of one's money.<br /><br />But <span style="font-weight: bold;">motherfuckers</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">assholes</span> - it's pretty safe!<br /><br />If we said it was all <span style="font-style: italic;">scams</span>, we could also be in trouble.<br /><br />But, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">BULLSHIT</span>", oddly, is safe.<br /><br />So forgive all the bullshit language.<br /><br />We're trying to talk about the truth without spending the rest of our lives in court because of <span style="font-style: italic;">litigious motherfuckers.<span style="font-weight: bold;">"</span></span><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//activist.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//activist.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212283375310692098" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >I'M BECOMING AN ACTIVIST!</span> - and it feels AWESOME</span><br /><br />I had to blog about this because becoming an activist will mark a pinnacle moment in my life. Not since I first sponsored Nyasha through World Vision have I felt my soul rejoice the way it does now.<br /><br />I have decided that the cause in which I will immerse myself in is of too much importance to me, that it deserves immunity from my blog. Sometimes, there are things we do to feed the souls of others, and of the self, that needn't be broadcast or shown on display. This cause is one of those very deeds.<br /><br />What I <span style="font-style: italic;">can</span> say is that I will be sitting on a committee, and interacting with politicians and youth, and organizing and creating media campaigns. I have decided against protesting, and against any kind of overt recruiting, because I don't believe in shoving my opinions down the throats of others. But I will be fighting for the cause I believe in through various methods, and hopefully, I can contribute to a positive change.<br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >COLD SHOULDER</span> - By Adele</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DR8b1mGMZvs&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DR8b1mGMZvs&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />"You say it's all in my head<br />And the things I think just don't make sense<br />So where you been then? Don't go all coy<br />Don't turn it round on me like it's my fault<br />See I can see that look in your eyes<br />The one that shoots me each and every time<br /><br />You grace me with your cold shoulder<br />Whenever you look at me I wish I was her<br />You shower me with words made of knives<br />Whenever you look at me I wish I was her<br /><br />These days when I see you<br />You make it look like I'm see-through<br />Do tell me why you waste our time<br />When your heart ain't in it, and you're not satisfied<br />You know I know just how you feel<br />I'm starting to find myself feeling that way too<br /><br />When you grace me with your cold shoulder<br />Whenever you look at me I wish I was her<br />You shower me with words made of knives<br />Whenever you look at me I wish I was her<br /><br />Time and time again, I play the role of fool<br />(Just for you)<br />Even in the daylight when you think that<br />(I don't see you)<br />Try to look for things I hear but our eyes never find<br />'Though I do know how you play<br /><br />You grace me with your cold shoulder<br />Whenever you look at me I wish I was her<br />You shower me with words made of knives<br />Whenever you look at me I wish I was her<br /><br />You grace me with your cold shoulder<br />Whenever you look at me I wish I was her<br />You shower me with words made of knives<br />Whenever you look at me I wish I was her."<br /><br />-Adele<br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//blogcropmesanabrais.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211293890739646594" border="0" /> <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >A SOMEWHAT TANGIBLE REASON TO FLY NAKED.</span></span><br /><br />As if paying for headsets and sub-par food on airlines isn't bad enough, behold the creation of the <span style="font-style: italic;">checked luggage fee</span>!<br /><br />3 of the leading American carriers are now charging rates for checked luggage. No, I dont mean that pesky 100 dollar minimum fee for oversized luggage - which, by the way, is now $125 minimum - no sir, I am talking about your very <span style="font-style: italic;">first</span> checked bag - which will now carry a price tag of $15; Your second bag? $25, and so on.<br /><br />In addition, the more popular airlines are considering implementing fees ranging from 5 to 15 dollars in coach for the possible thrombosis-inducing luxury of reserving a middle, window, or exit row seat.<br /><br />These somewhat marginal fares may not sound like a big deal to some, but you better believe with skyrocketing fuel costs on the rise, to see in increase in those fees in years to come.<br /><br />I remember when flying used to be a relaxing experience.<br /><br />More info: <a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1814267,00.html">Time Magazine Article</a><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SD4QvdD_jYI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/I90vDOPQBt0/s1600-h/rachelrey.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SD4QvdD_jYI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/I90vDOPQBt0/s320/rachelrey.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205616626728144258" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" ><br />THE PERVERSION OF AMERICAN LIBERTIES</span></span><br /><br />..is astonishing.<br /><br />The image above (of celebrity chef Rachel Ray) recently caused a brief brouhaha with an American Fox News commentator.<br /><br />What was geared toward attracting the general public to the Dunkin Donuts franchise - a simple, all too common advertisement - was misconstrued by said pundit as a display of an ally of the 'terrorists'?<br /><br />Why?<br /><br />Because of her scarf. To quote: <span style="font-style: italic;">"...resembled a kiffiyeh, Middle Eastern garb that is popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos."</span><br /><br />Yes, you read that right. The ad got pulled from the airwaves, because Ms. Rays' scarf <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">looked like</span></span> (i.e. 'resembled') a piece of clothing worn by the opposition in the American war.<br /><br />You just cant make stuff like this up. <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24860437/?GT1=43001">Here</a> is the article, where you can read the insanity for yourself.<br /><br />Let's just recap the past few years:<br /><br />most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals deemed it completely legal to seize and/or search, without a warrant - a laptop, a cell phone, or any other electronic device of any flight bound American and any person of any nationality who steps into, or has a hub on American grounds.<br /><br />Then you have shock jocks getting fined and kicked off the airwaves for being shocking on what is called shock jock radio.<br /><br />The phone taps, the email searches - what in the world is going on in the western hemisphere? Where are we?<br /><br />At the inception of the war, the world was lead to believe that, in part, what the U.S. Soldiers were fighting for was American rights, and liberties..yet, a three panel judge managed to bastardize the Constitution in one shot? What about the right to privacy?<br /><br />And now, it is not the elitists over at the F.C.C. who are laying the smackdown on the Freedom of Speech, but a <span style="font-style: italic;">freaking Fox News Anchor?</span> But wait, this isn't even about a <span style="font-style: italic;">shit, a fuck, a turd, or a ho</span>, no..this has nothing to do with words..but something as mundane as <span style="font-style: italic;">clothes.<br /></span><br />Clothes that are not infact religious attire, but clothes that somehow remind one or two people of what they deem 'terrorist garb'.<br /><br />How does one commentator with an opinion hold enough clout and 'power' to mandate what articles of clothes an American woman can wear, and what the American public can view?<br /><br />Unreal..<span style="font-style: italic;">especially</span> coming from Fox News.<br /><br />At the end of the day, Dunkin' Donuts, fearing a backlash in sales due to one anchors' unwarranted propoganda, pulled the plug on the ad.<br /><br />What's ironic about their decision, is that they <span style="font-style: italic;">have, in fact,</span> lost a customer - <span style="font-weight: bold;">in me.</span><br /><br />But not over a scarf,<br /><br />and, not even over some absurd assumption that Rachel Ray is part of some unfathomable plot against America;<br /><br />but rather,<br /><br />because of Dunkin Donuts themselves.<br /><br />..for forfeiting a large slice of Western freedom,<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">in the name of the almighty</span>..<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">dollar.<br /></span><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" > BEST BUDDHA BAR TRACK EVER!</span></span><br /><br />Any Vietnamese folk out there who can translate the lyrics into English? This has always been my favorite song on any Buddha Bar compilation. Absolutely GORGEOUS..<br /><br />Click on the video to play.<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HndFKPnOvW4&amp;hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" > FAVORITE MOVIE QUOTE!</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RgbFAyVvt5I/AAAAAAAAAAc/wMrjekOt_7A/s1600-h/memandb.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//facenewcloseupsanabrais.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5045937049818871698" border="0" /></a> The blog entry following this one contains my own quotes, but I thought I would dedicate a spot on my blog for a quote written by someone other than myself.<br /><br />I remember one day in what would be considered to be moderately recent past (in the grand scheme of things anyway) I was so taken by this quote that I had to grab a pen and notebook and jot it down..it was just too good. Simplistic yet broad, uncomplicated, yet emotionally and spiritually complex all at once.<br /><br />It carried enough significance at that particular moment in my life to demand being remembered verbatim, and, two days ago, while in the midst of emotional anguish, I found myself thumbing through the pages of one of my notebooks - a way to pass the time - and distract myself from what ailed my heart and brought me down to the depths of inner despair.<br /><br />And, there - by sheer fate, <span style="font-style: italic;">kismet</span>, or perhaps mere coincidence - scrawled in ink across the page about a third of the way into my notebook, was the very quote I had since forgotten about.<br /><br />Never had it carried such impact as it did at that moment: channeled through empathy, clout, and reflection: on <span style="font-style: italic;">what was</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">what wasn't, what is</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">what shall be</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In the image below is the quote, written by film director and writer, Nicholas Kazan:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SDZundD_jXI/AAAAAAAAAQw/NmZnI8Yja1E/s1600-h/moviequote.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: none; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SDZundD_jXI/AAAAAAAAAQw/NmZnI8Yja1E/s400/moviequote.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203468043568516466" border="0" /></a><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><a name="quotes"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >READER FAVORITE QUOTES!</span></span></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/bunnyinabananasuit/SCvko-fjefI/AAAAAAAAAQo/DgHKCnGKR90/allquoteswrittenbyme.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/bunnyinabananasuit/SCvko-fjefI/AAAAAAAAAQo/DgHKCnGKR90/allquoteswrittenbyme.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200499628845529570" border="0" /></a>I adore receiving emails from readers regarding my blog! Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my many ramblings here, and on my new blog as well!<br /><br />Below are a listing of reader favorite quotes from my blog. All quotes, are of course, created and written by myself, and each quote is linkable - taking you directly to the entry related to the quote - without the need to scroll down to find it. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Cool feature:</span> Click the 'back' arrow on your browser after reading each entry to go back to this listing!)<br /><br />Enjoy!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">REGARDING FEMINISM:</span></span><br /><br /><a href="#1" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>After all, one would imagine that perhaps, if we as women are breaking out a measuring tape to calculate the bust and thighs of a DOLL to compare them to our own, the issue lies not in a broad based problem where women are being subjective whores or slaves to an ideal beauty, but perhaps we should infact zero in on the very real mental state of the <span style="font-style: italic;">one holding the measuring tape.</span><br /><br />One persons' issue is NOT a womens' issue.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span><br /><center>_________</center><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span>Ah yes, it seems its only okay to exert your 'equal rights' if you fall into the category of a female social leper.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span></a><br /><center>_________</center><br /><a href="#10" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>The whole thing left me somewhat miffed as to how I am supposed to accept fuller figured women and slender/fit women as a unity of shared beauty when the blatant metaphoric (and I use that term loosely) insults, segregation, and stereotypes were being pumped into the heads and faces of the masses of men, women and children who were forced to read what Dove's definition of a 'real woman' truly is.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span></a><br /><center>_________</center><br /><a href="#11" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>I believe feminism to be a cult-like mass of women which excludes the aesthetically privileged. A proclaimed do-gooder group that does nothing more than segregate woman from woman, overtly liberalize our nation, and spread paranoia and hate.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">REGARDING MYTHS &amp; CONSPIRACY THEORIES:</span></span><br /><br /><a href="#2" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>There are..theories..that certain depressive disorders, such as bi-polar disorder originate from a disturbance in the normal chemical composition found in an otherwise healthy brain. You get the naturopaths and spiritual healers, who tell you theory isn't fact, we shouldn't be pushing drugs. Well, Bausch and Lomb just recalled a contact lens solution because it made people go blind. Everything on the market carries with it risks.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span></a><br /><center>_________</center><br /><a href="#9" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>The belief that as a conservative, you are archaic, oppose anything fun or remotely liberal, live in a rock, and the likes of such closeted, introverted beliefs.. I can debunk with just one photograph in the buff.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span></a><br /><center>_________</center><br /><a href="#7" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>I find it rather perplexing in this day and age where, when one is not given an answer in the context of which they want it, they consider all other responses moot, null and void. Anything that goes against their ideals, are not, actual answers.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">REGARDING POLITICS:</span></span><br /><br /><a href="#4" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>(a hypothetical question for the democrats).<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span>If one were to tally up the stats of ceased human fetuses in combination with the bodies of those ceased through all forms of capital punishment, and those awaiting their fate on death row, across your nation - and compare them to the death toll in Iraq, over the duration of the war and your expected completed withdrawal from the middle east - how would they compare?<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE SEARCH FOR INTELLIGENT MINDS:</span></span><br /><br /><a href="#5" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>While most find humor in making masses of people angry in the win of a debate, (and, certainly, to a certain extent, it amuses even me). I, for the most part, find it less than unsatisfying - and, by less than unsatisfying, it's akin to a teenager making love for the first time, and, while in the midst of climax, your bedroom door opens, and there stands your entire family. Can you say, buzzkill?</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span><br /><center>_________</center><br /><a href="#8" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>I have come to realize that talking to a customer service representative in this day and age is like single handedly collecting all of Pointdexters' arch nemesis' together for a dyslexic convention of monstrous proportions.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">REGARDING VANITY &amp; EVOLUTION:</span></span><br /><br /><a href="#11" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>We were <span style="font-style: italic;">built</span> to be appealing toward the opposite sex.. . like the peacock with the most beautiful feathers scores the bevy of the bunch.. you can call it pheromones, you can call it Revlon.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ON MY PERSONAL DOT COM BLOG, REGARDING THE PUPPET ON A STRING EFFECT:</span></span><br /><br />"With the passing of Ms. Hogan, the ignorant swept through like a tidal wave, and the brainwashed begat the brainwashed in droves similar to the way seagulls drop anchor on small spoils of food; making a triumphant disembarkment on what most have tossed aside as trash. Finding JOY in what you call your garbage".<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">AIR TRAVEL MEETS O.C.D.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="#14" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>I got to my seat, covered in sweat from my flash-like sprint through the airport..and looked down at the last empty chair on the fully seated plane..which was COVERED.. seat and floor.. with spilled peanuts, and a rolled up tissue and half a pack of halls.<br /><br />Did I mention I'm a germaphobe?<br /><br />Ah, the stories of air travel.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span></a><br /><center>_________</center><br /><a href="#22" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>So there I sat for the duration of the flight: uncomfortable, starving, grossed out, slightly poorer, and the stench in the air from her feet torturing the senses.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">REGARDING SELF LOVE:</span></span><br /><br /><a href="#12" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font><i>Who is my hero?</i><br /><br />In the utmost un-narcissistic way, the answer to that would humbly be my mental exaggeration of myself.<br /><br />The self of which I am not at present day, but the self I seek to become.<br /><br />The self with complete spiritual enlightenment - the self who takes none of my accomplishments as the highest level of achievement - the self that always reminds me I can do better, and fly over any plateau.<br /><br />My true hero is the me I aspire to be.<br /><br />The me of the future.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span></a><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >YET ANOTHER VITAL SHRED OF DEMOCRACY MORPHING INTO ACTUAL SHIT, AND LITERALLY BEING FLUSHED DOWN THE CRAPPER.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SA6CnSecFmI/AAAAAAAAAQA/sDUUlE_rUSw/s1600-h/toilet.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SA6CnSecFmI/AAAAAAAAAQA/sDUUlE_rUSw/s400/toilet.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192231031890777698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">And, for once, even I</span>..have no words to describe the grandiose atrocity that will now implement itself into modern day America.<br /><br />Read on, this article was copied verbatim from Wired.com (Wired Magazine).<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">"Border Agents Can Search Laptops Without Cause, Appeals Court Rules<br />By Ryan Singel</span></span><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);"></span><br /><br />Federal agents at the border do not need any reason to search through travelers' laptops, cell phones or digital cameras for evidence of crimes, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, extending the government's power to look through belongings like suitcases at the border to electronics.<br /><br />The unanimous three-judge decision reverses a lower court finding that digital devices were "an extension of our own memory" and thus too personal to allow the government to search them without cause. Instead, the earlier ruling said, Customs agents would need some reasonable and articulable suspicion a crime had occurred in order to search a traveler's laptop.<br /><br />On appeal, the government argued that was too high a standard, infringing upon its right to keep the country safe and enforce laws. Civil rights groups, joined by business traveler groups, weighed in, defending the lower court ruling.<br /><br />The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the government, finding that the so-called border exception to the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches applied not just to suitcases and papers, but also to electronics.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/6D5D931898D8168188257432005AC9B8/$file/0650581.pdf?openelement">ruling (.pdf)</a> came in a case where customs agents searched the laptop of Michael Arnold who was returning from the Philippines. They found images they believed to be child pornography, seized the laptop and later arrested him. While the lower court ruling excluded from trial the pictures of young boys the government says it found on the hard drive, they now can be used again.<br /><br />The panel chose to follow the reasoning of a similar case from the 4th Circuit, known as <a href="http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/034907.P.pdf">Ickes (.pdf)</a>, which held that the government did not need any reason to search a vehicle crossing the border.<br /><br />The 9th's ruling did not, however, clarify whether a traveler has to help the government search his computer, by providing the login information, or what would happen when the government decided to search a laptop with encrypted data on the drive. The defendant in the case can appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Court is unlikely to take up an issue that two separate appeals courts have agreed upon.<br /><br />In the meantime, travelers should be aware that anything on their mobile devices can be searched by government agents, who may also seize the devices and keep them for weeks or months. When in doubt, think about whether online storage or encryption might be tools you should use to prevent the feds from rummaging through your journal, your company's confidential business plans or naked pictures of you and your-of-age partner in adult fun.<br /><br />The case is Arnold vs. USA."<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SAv8x2FJU9I/AAAAAAAAAP4/lSG3vAsxsGQ/s1600-h/boy.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SAv8x2FJU9I/AAAAAAAAAP4/lSG3vAsxsGQ/s400/boy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191520928735515602" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >Sebastian.</span></span><br /><br />April 17, 2008 was a wonderous day.<br /><br />A first breath was taken and, like the very beginning of time itself, the Universe was once again created from nothingness - and set on glorious display - before the eyes..<br /><br />of <span style="font-style: italic;">Sebastian Luong Day</span>.<br /><br />Reinforcing my belief that this is it..this is <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">WHY we exist</span></span>..<br /><br />this is <span style="font-style: italic;">why my friend was born female</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Why I am born female</span>.<br /><br />To procreate, to extend the human race.<br /><br />As the beautiful soul of my long time friend became the vessel of fortitude, nourishment, and life - I became like a speck of dust in her glory.<br /><br />Perfection radiated from her very being, as I bore witness to a woman, as thin as I, who had just, that very morning, birthed a new life from her body - smiling, walking, full of joy, full of femininity; full of a level of strength that no words could do justice to depict, lest the words themselves minimize the grandiose miracle that had just occurred.<br /><br />As her body became the chain of life itself, from the conception and development of the child, to her breasts providing sustenance - everything else in the world - at that moment - became almost - inconsequential.<br /><br />As I held little Sebastian in my arms for the first time - I could feel my Universe - <span style="font-style: italic;">our</span> Universe, being born into the world with him.<br /><br />And it was utterly, utterly <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">magnificent</span></span>.<br /><br />Welcome to the world, Sebastian Luong Day..<br /><br />and my most heartfelt congratulations and love to the two proud new parents - Susan and Stephen. You make an absolutely beautiful family.<br /><br />I am on cloud nine with you, this is the beginning of the rest of your lives, <span style="font-style: italic;">and may it be as splendorous as is the perfection in Sebastian's eyes</span>.<br /><br />With love.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SAgN3y2nTYI/AAAAAAAAAPw/rtkrA8NuP3c/s1600-h/pigeon.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/SAgN3y2nTYI/AAAAAAAAAPw/rtkrA8NuP3c/s400/pigeon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190413822739303810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE PLIGHT OF THE PIGEON! <i>the consequences of rat poison</i></span><br /><br />I want to talk about something very important and near and dear to me. That, in a roundabout way, is poison in rat feed.<br /><br />Many obscure restaurants are mixing in a concoction of poison into rat feeds, and sprinkling it outside their establishments in order to try to save costs on ethical removal methods. What these people fail to realise is that pigeons are highly attracted to not only the rats, but the bait itself, and, as scavengers, will eat the feed.<br /><br />That feed is toxic to birds as well as rats, and death is the result. For the pigeon, ingested rat poison is a long, drawn out, excruciating death, where the bird will have repeated seizures for UP TO 48 HOURS..over, and over again. The second one seizure ends, the convulsing begins anew all over again. Brutal to watch, and even more brutal to be the victim of such abuse, many rat poisons have been outlawed, and its use by sprinkling method is currently ILLEGAL in many jurisdictions - yet time and again, many restaurant owners looking to save a quick buck turn the other cheek and treat the pigeons as if they were vermin. Many, in fact, buy the rat poison specifically for pigeons, not at all for rats. This is a very inhumane, very cruel, uneducated choice.<br /><br />There are ethical ways to drastically minimize pigeons around restaurants. One of the safest methods are a strip(s) of bumps that do not pierce the talons. The bumpy, uneven surface from the birds eye view is deemed unsuitable for landing, and the birds will flock elsewhere. Successful restaurateurs use this method by placing a series of the strips on their roofs and/or around the garbage bins. It is effective, and it lasts. A decision that is not only ethical, but highly cost effective. But some, don't want to spend the money on such an excursion. What these exterminators fail to realize is that their methods, over time, provided the restaurant flourishes for many years, may deem itself more expensive in the long run, for having to buy repeated stock, instead of just setting aside money in the budget just once.<br /><br />I have bore witness to the painful, excruciating death a pigeon suffers as a result of eating the rat feed. It was a year or so ago, in New Mexico. A friend and I were driving around the art district, and, I looked out of the car window to see passersby staring down at something on the sidewalk, and keep walking. (Big surprise, huh? What ever happened to compassion? Humanity? Have those all gone out the window?) At closer inspection, I saw a pigeon, struggling to take flight, flapping furiously with one wing, spinning in circles, its head pointed to the sky, its mouth open, eyes glassy, dilated. The look of impending death. The look of agony.<br /><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;">Turn around!</span>" I demanded, as we rushed to the backseat to grab towels, and carefully made our way over to the beautiful creature and I gently took the bird into my arms. Call after call was placed to Animal Rescues - unfortunately because of the breeding crisis, no one seemed to want to take in a wild animal. I would not give up. "LISTEN!! <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">I WILL PAY YOU</span></span> if you just LOOK at this bird. Life is life, domesticated or wild. <span style="font-style: italic;">Name your price</span>!"<br /><br />Sure enough, thats all I needed to do to, and I received a taker. Off to the bird specialist we went. It turns out the lady I met with is an activist, who shuts down properties engaging in this illegal behavior.<br /><br />"He has been shaking, frothing, trembling, the entire way..he is terribly afraid"..I said, assuming all the bird had was a broken foot.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"What you are seeing, are repeated VIOLENT seizures. He has been poisoned. Rat feed. He will continue to have these until death. How many has he had?"</span> she replied.<br /><br />"Many. Very many. One stops. Another starts. About 5 second rests in between."<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />"He will do that for up to 48 hours"</span>.<br /><br />My heart - just sank. How could anyone be so cruel as to let a living, breathing, feeling creature suffer in such a manner?<br /><br />This needs to be stopped. If you or anyone you know is engaging in the use of rat poison, especially mixed in rat feed, (and, if a bird eats a poisoned rat, the bird will also die) please contact your local animal rescue to file a report.<br /><br />Such activity is strictly prohibited in most cities. Please do your part.<br /><br />In the end, the specialist told me all she could do was try to drown out his system with fluids to try to ease the sufferage of death for the bird. I gave her all of the information as to the proximity of the bird and restaurants at the time I rescued the creature, and she told me to get in touch with her, and by the time I did, she will have already have filed a report on the restaurant.<br /><br />She also told me I could inquire about the state of the bird.<br /><br />I never did call her back. I donated money to the cause, but I just didn't have the heart to hear what I knew she would tell me as to the fate of the bird..not after the images of seeing the creature's expression during the seizures, and the memories of feeling him or her convulse in my very hands..tense up, shake violently, and froth..it brings me to the verge of tears, even now, over a year later, just recollecting such powerful imagery from my mind.<br /><br />STOP THE USE OF RAT POISON!<br />______________________________________________________<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Environmentalist Creates Island Supported by Water Bottles! <i>One of the Coolest Things I Have Ever Seen!</i></span><br /><br />I remember seeing this on <span style="font-style: italic;">Ripley's Believe It Or Not</span> years ago. Since it's airing, the island has been destroyed by a hurricane; but it's creator, Richie Sowa, is allegedly building a new one.<br /><br />Can you imagine not only doing your part to help the environment by recycling waste in such an effective way, and having the luxury of sailing around the world from the comfort of your own living room?!<br /><br />Too cool! Check the vid by clicking on the arrow!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Cvn9l1pJ3-A&amp;hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Cvn9l1pJ3-A&amp;hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />The Evolutionary Ladder:</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a name="11">How High Have You Climbed?</a></span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories/Bannersbkg/mefacesummumfmm.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories/Bannersbkg/mefacesummumfmm.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5045937049818871698" border="0" /></a> I am a firm believer that many people residing this earth remain deeply rooted to their primitive instincts.<br /><br />There are the obvious ones: lust, avarice, dominance;<br /><br />And the more subtle: envy, jealousy, <span style="font-style: italic;">coveting thy neighbor</span>.<br /><br />They seem to be on a subconscious plane, separated in strength by the sexes: the men, placing emphasis on position and wealth, the women, placing emphasis on territory and possession.<br /><br />I believe these traits to be inherently natural, <span style="font-style: italic;">healthy even</span>, in doses – but, in juxtaposition to our current living conditions in developed nations, they seem almost – extrinsic – silly, even.<br /><br />As a child growing up, I would often find myself in front of a television set, immersed in the many educational features on National Geographic and Wildlife Channels regarding socialization and reproduction within various animal groups.<br /><br />Looking back, I would match many of the traits held by the animals in those shows, and compare them to the traits that once existed in prehistoric man, and still exist amongst us today.<br /><br />For instance, I remember watching a special about lions, where two animatronic Lions were placed in a den – one with a more defined musculature and build, and a noticeably larger mane, the other with a modest main and build.<br /><br />Two lionesses in heat would then enter the den, and, time and again, each lioness would gravitate toward the larger maned Lion with the beefy build.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Hunter. Provider. Protector.</span></span><br /><br />A quintessential conclusion, the female in heat gravitating toward the mate best suited to fit the definition of male prowess, agility and strength; marking an almost mirror image of human interaction (as I see it).<br /><br />Plain and simple:<br /><br />We eat, breathe, live, and are..<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Sex</span>. (and this, is coming from someone who is, believe it or not, <span style="font-style: italic;">celibate</span>!)<br /><br />Deep rooted in that primitive, subconscious need to procreate, for the survival of the human race, many find themselves still protecting their flock as if we remained to date, only in the wilderness.<br /><br />You see them everywhere: women who <span style="font-style: italic;">loathe</span> other women on sight; men and women who resort to cosmetic enhancements to become more appealing to a mate.<br /><br />Men whose morals know no bounds when it comes to attaining a higher position in the hierarchy of business world.<br /><br />Men of public influence, even in congress, <span style="font-style: italic;">dirty rich, married men</span> propositioning myself, and escort agencies for sex: the desire: young, sexy, busty (ahem, I kind of lack in the big busty area, but I digress..).<br /><br />The sex therapists and psychologists will tell you the heterosexual male is attracted subconsciously to the bust and face of a woman due to a subconscious comprehension that she is fertile and will produce healthy, good looking children who will be well nourished.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Nourishment. Maternal. Sex appeal.</span></span><br /><br />It is only natural for these primitive, powerful emotions and feelings to be carried on today. But the limits know no bounds to some when it comes to sitting at the top of the food chain of male dominance and female superiority – fueled by deep lust, hate, anger, greed, malice, and territorial possession.<br /><br />They will let a stranger incise their body for exuberant amounts of money risking both deformities and paralysis, not to mention the possibility of death, just to updo their ‘competition’.<br /><br />They will give you a million and one reasons why they do what they do, none of those reasons of course, having anything to do with jealousy, insecurity, or greed.<br /><br />They will tell you the boob job, lipo, facelift or tummy tuck was for the self.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">BULL.</span><br /><br />One only needs to think beyond the surface – penetrate through the physical realms of sight, touch, smell, and taste, to realize – <span style="font-style: italic;">we aren’t much different that our ancient predecessors who lived in caves!<br /></span><br />We were <span style="font-style: italic;">built</span> to be appealing toward the opposite sex.. . like the peacock with the most beautiful feathers scores the bevy of the bunch.. you can call it pheromones, you can call it Revlon. We exist in a powerhouse nation in the Western hemisphere where beauty can be manufactured, surgically enhanced, and shaped through clothing, bra inserts, weaves, nails, tans, corsets, fake lashes - it's <span style="font-style: italic;">accessible</span> and it makes us more appealing to a potential mate.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Everything we do</span> is about attracting a mate to engage in sex. That primitive need to procreate. We are sexual beings. We were made, shaped, and formed to BE sexual beings.<br /><br />What separates us from the cavemen is our unique ability to remain celibate, and monogamous. These are not natural traits, they are learned traits. <span style="font-style: italic;">They are sociological requisitions!</span><br /><br />Picture, if you will, existing as the last and sole human being on the planet. How would you spend your time?<br /><br />I would hypothesize that if it were myself in such a situation, I would drive every expensive car I could get my hands on, at unprecedented speeds, sleep in palatial mansions, don all the finest clothes, makeup and jewelry - only to satiate my need to experience realms of wealth I have not yet achieved on my own.<br /><br />And then?<br /><br />When the novelty would wear thin, and with no mate left on the earth to attract and (eventually) have sex with - <span style="font-weight: bold;">on the most primitive level</span> - <span style="font-style: italic;">to reproduce,</span> I would cease all beauty enhancement rituals:<br /><br />shaving, tanning, I dare say, maybe even bathing.<br /><br />There would exist no need to attract a mate, if no potential mates existed.<br /><br />At the end of the day though, what is it we <span style="font-style: italic;">really</span> want?<br /><br />Can we bravely admit to ourselves, that our often-cumbersome personas and behaviors are grossly out of proportion to bevy of self-improvement and willing men and women that lay themselves at our very feet?<br /><br />Beckoning to be loved in reciprocation? Isn’t that what we all, really want at the end of the day?<br /><br />To be truly, utterly, completely, in blissful love?<br /><br />What brought this up was an event that recently occurred to me. I made a new friend, male, older. Platonic. A fellow Republican/Conservative who engages with me delightful conversations of likeminded persuasion.<br /><br />He often will tell me “I feel sorry for you” because, when we are out in public, the way the men stare and call, and the way the women <span style="font-style: italic;">glare</span>.. ”how can you trust anyone? They hate you, or want to get in your pants!”<br /><br />Ah ha. Alas, someone sees it.<br /><br />One day in recent past, I was outside of his home, and he had his friends over, all female, ranging in age from 22-38. Semi to attractive. “They don’t like you,” he said.<br /><br />“I never met them” I replied.<br /><br />“They saw you from the window. They said you are gorgeous, but that you must be a stripper, or a hooker charging 5 grand..the way you look, the way you dress nice.”<br /><br />I just shook my head, because I wasn’t surprised at all. I have met women of such character all of my life. I have lost friendships with men because their women couldn’t bear the thought of me being a platonic friend. I have had women harass me for thinking I ‘hit on their boyfriend’ for merely standing in the same room as a man. I have had women look in their mens’ cell phone address book and call me asking about my sex life.<br /><br />“They told me to stay far, far away from you, because you are probably a gold digger and will take me for all I am worth” was the warning they gave him.<br /><br />Of course, none of them have any romantic interest in him, but, you see, <span style="font-style: italic;">he does things</span> for them. Drives them to wherever they need to be at any given time, dines them, <span style="font-weight: bold;">and doesn’t sleep with them.</span><br /><br />In a deep rooted primitive display of territorial possession, they sought to <span style="font-style: italic;">hoard</span> him, as not to have him share any of his time with another.<br /><br />It matters not to women if the man is desirable – what matters is that the attention is on her and, most women, cant bear the thought of having attention diverted away from themselves for even a moment.<br /><br />It’s utterly <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">embarrassing to women</span></span>.<br /><br />It is proof, that males have by far, surpassed females in climbing up the ladder of evolution.<br /><br />What’s funny, all of the women in question are extreme left wing, and feminist. Much like I wrote about in my <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><a href="#1" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>Barbie Debate Blog Entry"</a></span>…I believe feminism to be a cult-like mass of women which excludes the aesthetically privileged. A proclaimed do-gooder group that does nothing more than segregate woman from woman, overtly liberalize our nation, and spread paranoia and hate.<br /><br />The main woman in question? 38, and attractive..has now lost everything, after finding out I was spending more time with my new friend. She began to kick her feet and scream obscenities at him, whilst calling me a ‘manipulative controlling bitch’ (yes, keep in mind, she didn’t even KNOW me, that’s the real kicker). She broke off a 15 year friendship, and lost her job (my new friend actually employed her) and lost her home.<br /><br />All in the name of primitive, ridiculous, jealousy..in the form of marking a territory (that being my new friend..a man)..in the way a dog would piss on a tree, or the way our ancient predecessors would possess and guard their flock from potential threats.<br /><br />Proof that caveman, and cavewoman like thinking – can be destructive in modern day.<br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >IN REMEMBERANCE - for Brett, Rest In Peace.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R_ImxrhltzI/AAAAAAAAAPo/Q3fs6akWFtA/s1600-h/shivabasket.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R_ImxrhltzI/AAAAAAAAAPo/Q3fs6akWFtA/s400/shivabasket.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5184248755995916082" width="172" border="0" height="189" /></a> <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">So it is April 1 2008, 8 a.m.,</span></span> and, I have been, for the past four hours, in a state of shock, filled with a myriad of emotions: of despair, anguish, loss, reflection, regret.<br /><br />Reflections of the warrior I met, whose first impression left me floored, with such optimism, courage, strength and perseverance; of a man who knew what he wanted when he saw it. A man who never backed down, for anyone, or anything.<br /><br />Regret for all of the things I should have said. Regret for all of the things I shouldn't have said.<br /><br />Despair over not seeing you again when you called for me. Anguish - over what it was you were trying to tell me - and that I will never know why you were looking for me.<br /><br />I've missed you.<br /><br />I've thought about you.<br /><br />I have traveled, and we had parted ways.<br /><br />Was it too hard?<br /><br />Was I afraid?<br /><br />I am asking myself a million and one questions. I have only broken memories to fill in the blanks.<br /><br />I so wish I had called you. I so wish, I had not delayed in telling you that I cared for you. That I was..not sure, with all of the contrasts between your life and mine at the time, that I was the one that could measure up to the heights you seemed to place me.<br /><br />I had been looking for you.<br /><br />I called your number..<br /><br />then another..<br /><br />Each number no longer connected to your voice.<br /><br />I figured, time..location..and circumstance was the answer.<br /><br />At 4 am, April 1st 2008, I googled you.<br /><br />Trying to find a myspace - anywhere - where we could reconnect.<br /><br />Where I could finally say:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">YES,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">I will come to you</span>.<br /><br />It was at 4 am, April 1 2008, that I found out your illness consumed you.<br /><br />I never got to say the things I should have said.<br /><br />I never got to say the things I <span style="font-style: italic;">wanted</span> to say.<br /><br />I never got to spend the final moments of your life with you.<br /><br />I am so sorry, Brett.<br /><br />But you have always been in my mind.<br /><br />You have always been in my heart.<br /><br />Differences, fears, through all barriers - that <span style="font-style: italic;">never</span> changed.<br /><br />If I could turn back the hands of time..<br /><br />we would be on the phone, or out to dine again, or on a trip.<br /><br />I would have made more than an attempted effort, I wouldn't have let fear hinder me.<br /><br />I saw your picture and the article in the press, and I was reduced to tears.<br /><br />A blubbering, trembling - mess.<br /><br />For moments, I couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't talk.<br /><br />The face and body of the man staring back at me from the article on the computer screen on April 1 2008, was not the face and body of the man I remember only a short time ago.<br /><br />I cant get that image of you out of my mind.<br /><br />Like a broken record player..I see your smile, I feel your hug, I feel your kiss..then I see that final image of you.<br /><br />And I buckle.<br /><br />I forced myself, through my watered vision, to read the article. It took me more than one attempt to read to it's conclusion, but I am glad I did.<br /><br />Your final venture in this world was noble - and in my heart,<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">so shall you remain</span>.<br /><br />Rest In Peace,<br /><br />dear Brett.<br /><br />You are, and will be greatly missed.<br /><br />To your family: <span style="font-style: italic;">HaMakom yenachem et'chem b'toch she'ar avelei Tzion vi'Yerushlayim</span><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >When the Universe itself was half its current age, a star exploded 7.5 billion light years away.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R_BbSrhltxI/AAAAAAAAAPY/mwXqznPOJx0/s1600-h/facep.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R_BbSrhltxI/AAAAAAAAAPY/mwXqznPOJx0/s400/facep.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183743547582822162" border="0" /></a>..It was seen on earth..<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">march 23, 2008.</span></span><br /><br />That really makes me think about how short OUR lives are when lived even past the century mark. Why hate when you can love?<br /><br />We need to open our eyes! Prejudice reflects onto others and back onto the self. You give love, most times, you will reflect love again, and receive love in return.<br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" ><a name="4">QUESTIONS I'D LIKE TO SEE THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ASKED AND ANSWER!</a></span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R-8TJ7hltvI/AAAAAAAAAPI/cB49eiQbtps/s1600-h/facemine01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories/newmbstuff01/facemine01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183382757445056242" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><b>For all Candidates:</b><br /><br />What will you do to uphold Freedom of Speech and stay true to form on the First Amendment? In a day and age where shock jocks get kicked of off shock jock radio, for being, well, dare I say, <span style="font-style: italic;">shocking</span>, and on air personalities face similiar reprimands and loss of careers, can you implement some form of fair and just protocol between the American public and organizations such as the FCC, who are bastardizing the very core of democracy and the nation, encouraging pacification, hypersensitivity, paranoia, and segregation?<br /><br />And, will you actually follow through on your proposal?<br /><br /><b>For Obama:</b><br /><br />When you were asked on the news, before the debates began, if you feared running for the Presidency while being black, and your wife responded with, and I quote:<br /><br />"(he has no reason to be afraid), as a black man, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDjaBXUyu_Y">he can get shot by just walking to the gas station</a>" referring to you as an ordinary black man..why did you just smile and nod in agreement, letting your wife answer the question for you, instead of answering it yourself?<br /><br />I really did want to hear what you had to say.<br /><br />and, did you feel her response could be interpreted by some as having both racial undertones and/or hint at preferential treatment toward certain racial groups if you did indeed secure not only the democratic ticket but the Presidency?<br /><br />Or, do you feel her response was uniform and fair?<br /><br />Will she be doing the answering for you in Washington?<br /><br /><b>For Clinton:</b><br /><br />Do you fear that without the precedence of the almighty dollar and the type A need to delve into competitive races within the current infrastructure of the Medical System, that one would actually be sacrificing quality of care for quantity of care under a Universal Health Care System?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Democrats Only</span><br /><br />What stance do you hold on the case of Terri Schiavo, or, the ideals held by Jack Kevorkian?<br /><br />Do you feel Schiavo's final wishes were violated? If yes, what measures do you plan on implementing that will insure that each and every citizens final life and death wishes are granted, and bound to be so by law?<br /><br />If one were to tally up the stats of ceased human fetuses in combination with the bodies of those ceased through all forms of capital punishment, and those awaiting their fate on death row, across your nation - and compare them to the death toll in Iraq, over the duration of the war and your expected completed withdrawal from the middle east - how would they compare?<br /><br />If you can further clarify your personal beliefs, dealing with specifics, in the area of pro choice womens' rights; chiefly, if you hold the belief many pro life advocates share - that a fetus is not in fact a person until an indeterminate gestation, subjective to each individual - and, is, beforehand, merely a cluster of cells?<br /><br />If you do share this belief, and will uphold the current law which deems it a criminal offense to cease the life of an unborn child in the womb if one is not the mother; i.e. a male, would you reconsider your belief structure, given that a male ceasing the life of an unborn child, under various jurisdictions in the American Justice System, <span style="font-style: italic;">must</span> be declared a 'murder' <span style="font-style: italic;">as defined in Common Law Countries</span> as <span style="font-weight: bold;">"Murder is the unlawful killing of a human person"</span> in order to be classified as a punishable offense?<br /><br />If a male did knowingly commit cessation of the life of his own child, which is deemed under American law, as infact 'murder'..and a woman did knowingly cease the life of her own child as deemed under American law as a lawful 'medical procedure' - where exactly, would you draw the line between the beginning of life, justice, and gender neutrality?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />DEMOCRATS AGAIN, CHIEFLY, HILLARY CLINTON:</span><br /><br />If you are indeed in favor of pro choice, stem cell research and gender equality, do you feel that a 'woman's right to choose' neglects the wishes of men?<br /><br />.and, do you feel that is a backward step toward gender equality?<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >TAKE THE AWARENESS TEST!</span></span><br /><br />A very cool test, just take it. (Click on the blue arrow).<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.todaysbigthing.com/betamax/betamax.swf?item_id=153&amp;fullscreen=1&amp;autostart=false" width="425" height="355"></object><br /><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >PLATINUM GRADE COMEDY</span></span><br /><br />Blog readers, check out one of my fave vids of all time by clicking on the arrow in the screenshot below. Whether you love or hate Bill O'Reilly, you have to admit Colbert has him to a T!! And yes, despite his stance on the war, and some of the controversial things he's said, I am an O'Reilly fan. Yeah, I said it.<br /><br />Anyway check the vid! Hilarity ensures every time I watch it! ENJOY.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VPfZBtxrT5s&amp;hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VPfZBtxrT5s&amp;hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >MOOD: Blessed!</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R9nYC8Cz5VI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/lh08VZGnUls/s1600-h/lingeriebowl.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R9nYC8Cz5VI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/lh08VZGnUls/s400/lingeriebowl.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5177406791628350802" border="0" /></a>Just when I thought I had reached several pinnacle points in my career, I have just been officially asked by the powers that be - to try out for<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE FREAKING LINGERIE BOWL!! </span><br /><br />Jimminy Crickets and gadzooks batman that is INCREDIBLE!<br /><br />What sucks is that I wont be in town for the tryout, but just being asked..has me on cloud nine.<br /><br />Today I spoke with a friend I hadn't spoken to in a while, now this. Fantastic day, and I feel truly blessed!<br /><br />-Thu Mar 13 2008.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >NEW AND IMPROVED BLOG - for my 'fans'.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R9eo_8Cz5UI/AAAAAAAAAOI/l88QMGylJ0Y/s1600-h/webpicblognew.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R9eo_8Cz5UI/AAAAAAAAAOI/l88QMGylJ0Y/s400/webpicblognew.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176792113088816450" border="0" /></a> For those of you who know who the person is behind the blog, I invite you to take a trip to my personal website online (which you should know) so that you may be directed to my new blog format - a website I created from scratch, dedicated toward my many blog entries. (You will find the link to it on my website).<br /><br />As you may find, on blogspot.com, new entries take the highest position, while the rest get archived, and even, bumped to another page.<br /><br />I never liked that idea, hence why I have been using horizontal rules in between new entries; so they all stay on the same page, and no new entries find themselves being archived when a newer one takes it's place.<br /><br />At this point, I have a plethora of entries, which involves a lot of scrolling, just to avoid being archived. I wanted to display each entry on it's own page; kind of like every thought has it's own little domain, while providing an improved format toward organizing all of the blogs.<br /><br />I decided the best way to make my own rules, is to do it myself; so I created a whole new webpage, where I have the freedom to place content anywhere I please.<br /><br />So, for those of you, who so sweetly call yourselves my 'fans' (a word, I appreciate, but have never truly gotten used to, to be honest, LOL!), <span style="font-style: italic;">consider this a treat from me to you.</span> Easier functionality, a prettier layout, and exclusive only to those who know what I do for a living.<br /><br />Sure, designing a site takes a lot more effort than simply posting a new entry here on blogspot - but as a tech junkie, I quite enjoyed the work. - That hard work is my way of saying <span style="font-style: italic;">thank you</span> - to everyone who has supported and supports me.<br /><br />For my blog exclusive readers, who know me only as an anonymous personal columnist, I appreciate all of you as well. I kind of enjoy the semi-anonymity I have on blogspot.com, hence why I never put my name anywhere on it. Not to hide, not to censor, but, simply so that new readers, can really grasp what I am trying to say, without having the title of my position in the mind. Often times, stereotypes can cloud, or otherwise limit an observer or listener from truly feeling what is being delivered to them, because they inadvertently (or sometimes, purposely) associate a position or career with a bias to any given subject.<br /><br />Having both blogs, one where my identity is revealed, and one where it isn't..gives me a sense of what it would be like, as an outsider from my Industry, without a title, with a heck of a lot to say.<br /><br />Once again, I thank you all for reading, and be sure to stop by again, as I update both blogs frequently.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Visitors to my new blog will find never before seen entries, and links to some cool sites, and more!</span><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >FOR THE AMERICANS - a Canadian point of view on a Universal Health Care System.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R9DoREaR1zI/AAAAAAAAAOA/kSaWcc3NHi4/s1600-h/mmoore.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R9DoREaR1zI/AAAAAAAAAOA/kSaWcc3NHi4/s400/mmoore.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174891351788082994" border="0" /></a> I was a little late on catching the flick "Sicko", as documented by Michael Moore, but I felt, as a Canadian, that I need to clarify a few errors made in the film, and perhaps, offer a different perspective of Universal Health Care.<br /><br />I must first say, that I like Michael Moore - for the sheer fact that anyone who can make Charlton Heston, a man who chose time and again, the worst possible places and times to hold pro gun conventions - dummy up and walk away from a debatee <i>in his own home</i> garners my respect.<br /><br />Now let me make this clear; I am <i>not</i> stating, nor will I state, my stance on the right to bear arms. That ideal is irrelevant to what I am about to post. I simply admire the perseverance and wit Moore, with steadfast belief, possessed in the presence of another 'powerful' man with steadfast beliefs. There is nothing I enjoy more than a well thought out debate, and ultimate victory without the need of being vile, violent, or losing one's temper. What Moore did in BFC with Heston and what he accomplished at Wal-Mart and for the families of the victims of Columbine High was magnificently carried out.<br /><br />But, obviously, it is easy to see one with a bias; and if I can look at a man I admire in some regards objectively, I would say that I firmly disagree with Moore's presentation of the alleged opulence of the Universal Health Care system in Canada.<br /><br />I was born and raised in this great nation; dividing my time between the United States and my motherland. I have experienced both forms of health care; and, while I can sympathize with the plight of my fellow American men and women who struggle to get decent, or any healthcare - and I <i>really, really do - it is one of the world issues that sadden me the most, given that Americans reside in a free democracy</i> - I honestly wonder, as a Canadian, would I prefer a medical system based on insurance, or a Universal system?<br /><br />To be honest, with as much thought as I have given it, I cannot truly answer this either way. Although I do see that the benefits far outweigh the cons of a Universal system in contrast to an Insurance-based system; I wonder though, if we as Canadians, are sacrificing quality for quantity?<br /><br />I say this, because it can take me, and almost everyone I have ever met in this country, 40 some-odd doctors to diagnose a patient unless he or she has something obvious to the eye, such as a broken arm, or leg. Not only that, but with each patient seen, the government dispenses more money out to the doctor. Per patient. When the patient is not given a clear diagnosis on the first visit, he or she is told to return again, and again, until an <i>assumption</i> (as described two paragraphs down), not a <i>diagnosis</i> is made. This yo-yo system causes the patient to take more time off of their job to do so, losing them money, yet all the while ensuring the doctor yet another payday. Hence why most Canadians are left perplexed and frustrated as to why there are several month waiting lists for 'specialists' - and, after patiently riding out the time in suffrage, one gets a mere 2 minutes or less in a room with a doctor.<br /><br />I liken it to cows on a conveyor belt, the quicker you get them in, the quicker you can push them out, doing nothing for them but creating an even larger mess than existed in the first place - yet reaping a profit at their expense.<br /><br />Not only does this mentally frustrate the patient; it flummoxes the doctor when the patient has the gall (rightfully so) to cry foul. What results, is doctors with poor bedside manner; who, at the risk of having their educational background, degrees, and their very foundation shaken from beneath them - infer the patient is either psychosomatic, or a hypochondriac, after several sessions with them in the manner I described above.<br /><br />Ask any Canadian, most of them will tell you..if you are not 'cured' or easily 'diagnosed' in Canada - you are deemed a headcase.<br /><br />Moore showcasing his personal bias, in a such a tiny magnitude, by using London, Ontario, a country-like city in the boondocks, small in both populous and size in contrast to major Canadian cities - as a debating ground to prove his point - was a gross misrepresentation of what the healthcare system is really like in a Canadian metropolis, or large cosmopolitan city, like say, Montreal, or Toronto.<br /><br />I wonder, although one would need to be well off, sad as that is, in America to receive first class healthcare - if <i>paying</i> for ones care might be a better scenario.<br /><br />I have pondered this, not only due to my experiences within the USA and Canada, but, logically and economically speaking, Canadian doctors are currently limited as to their incomes in contrast to the American medical professionals. If one paid an exuberant amount (such as an American billionaire I know, who was cured of a terminal illness in a US southern state) to a doctor, and he or she 'cured' and/or accurately 'diagnosed' the patient, would the word of mouth of such excellence, not only increase the doctors' patient load, but also their desire to learn about new diseases as well, making them more knowledgeable and efficient medical professionals?<br /><br />This is one subject, where I will openly admit, as I am never afraid of publicly admitting I may be wrong on a subject - that I am ignorant.<br /><br />I am not an resident of the United States. My experiences there do not qualify me to speak on behalf of their citizens. But I do feel the need to correct Mr. Moore, particularly in a time where the concept of Universal Health Care is being discussed amongst the democrats in the current Presidential debates.<br /><br />This is my opinion, from a Canadian to any Americans reading this, who may find themselves in the middle of a conundrum regarding health care policies this upcoming election.<br /><br />Universal Health Care has enormous advantages, there is no debate there. But do know, that what may be presented to you, in such films as Moore's - may not always be an accurate point of view.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" ><a name="9">LIBERALS VS. CONSERVATIVES</a></span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R7jCxXPXzGI/AAAAAAAAANw/dkudqctiDU4/s1600-h/conservativeliberalpictureme.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R7jCxXPXzGI/AAAAAAAAANw/dkudqctiDU4/s400/conservativeliberalpictureme.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168094725715512418" border="0" /></a> For those of my avid readers, you may be able to surmise that I am a political Independent leaning heavily toward Conservative.<br /><br />For those of you who just know me as doing something as liberal as dropping trou for the camera, the news of my political stance may shock you.<br /><br />I relish in that shock, because it just goes to show how ignorant we as a people can be toward opposing beliefs.<br /><br />The belief that as a conservative, you are archaic, oppose anything fun or remotely liberal, live in a rock, and the likes of such closeted, introverted beliefs.. I can debunk with just one photograph in the buff.<br /><br />So why <span style="font-style: italic;">don't we</span> understand one another?<br /><br />Well, I was just having this conversation.<br /><br />I call it the cycle of the ignorant, chiefed, by the arrogant.<br /><br />What you have is a continuous cycle of hogwash, where ignorance begats mudslinging, which begats more ignorance, which begats judgement, which begats pacification, which, in turn, cycles itself around the tide again: ignorance to mudslinging. Mudslinging to ignorance, and so on..<br /><br />Until we as a people, can collectively come together on world issues in a civilized fashion, the barrier that divides our differences will never begin to crumble.<br /><br />Mudslinging, name calling, running and hiding - <span style="font-style: italic;">all of it</span> - leads to pacification.<br /><br />No one wants to say anything lest they be labelled.<br /><br />That needs to STOP.<br /><br />What ever happened to 'we can agree to disagree'?<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" ><a name="1">THE BARBIE DEBATE<br /><i>dysmorphia meets radical feminism.</i></a></span></span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories/macandbumble/menewmabngal.jpg" /><br /><br />I recently found myself engaged in a conversation where a young woman found herself afflicted by the appearance of Barbie. With measuring tape in tow, this individual found herself perplexed as to why women tolerate such subjective and sexist (as she viewed it) ideals of female beauty.<br /><br />I - called it outright radical feminism. Much like my rant on DOVE's "Campaign for Real Beauty", the Barbie debacle elicits nothing more in me than a heightened divide in belief between the modern day feminist agenda and their hypocrisy.<br /><br />Call my belief illogical, or zany, but wouldn't a strive for equality be better sought out by accepting the aesthetically privileged as women, instead of dysmorphic androids with an unfair advantage over other women?<br /><br />After all, one would imagine that perhaps, if we as women are breaking out measuring tape to calculate the bust and thighs of a DOLL to compare them to our own, the issue lies not in a broad based problem where women are being subjective whores or slaves to an ideal beauty, but perhaps we should infact zero in on the very real mental state of the <span style="font-style: italic;">one holding the measuring tape.<br /></span><br />One persons' issue is NOT a womens' issue.<br /><br />In fact, I would go as far as to label radical post modern day and modern day feminists not only as hypocrites, but, even, as misogynists - toward beautiful women.<br /><br />Its radical belief that blindsides one into thinking blanket misogyny isn't an everyday occurence, and/or exclusive to men. This line of belief is nothing more than an attempted 'movement' which favors only underprivileged women (physical or otherwise) as being worthy and/or respectable ladies.<br /><br />Case in point: Take the fight for the right to walk topless for example: it was feminists who stood on street corners, and outside of congressional hearings, picketing for the RIGHT for women to do so..<br /><br />but wait..there's a catch!<br /><br />If you are photographed topless <span style="font-style: italic;">and are attractive</span> or if you happen to buy large breasts and walk topless..those very SAME feminists deem you a whore, and the work you appear in <span style="font-style: italic;">as smut and dangerous to all women!</span> Much like they do (and have done) to Barbie (yes, Barbie's measurements have once ALREADY been altered to a decreased bust size and increased weight DUE TO feminist outcry..google it), these women who battle between an inferiority/superiority complex seek to eradicate the problem by trying to censor it.<br /><br />Ah yes, it seems its only okay to exert your 'equal rights' if you fall into the category of a female social leper.<br /><br />There is a reason the terms radical and cult are often seen as being synonymous.<br /><br />They are both subjective, both think in terms of black and white.<br /><br />The feminist propaganda delivered to the masses at the hands of corporations like Dove, and sects of women who cannot seperate evolution from primitive displays of territorial possession do far more damage to the social perspective of what a 'real' woman is - when they try to define her.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" ><a name="14">ANOTHER AIRLINE STORY!</a><br /><i>customer service at it's finest.</i></span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R6U6un-DR4I/AAAAAAAAANI/eeXFe4golWo/s1600-h/tounge2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/R6U6un-DR4I/AAAAAAAAANI/eeXFe4golWo/s400/tounge2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162597120527779714" border="0" /></a> This will be a post about incompetence. It will be long, but if you are a frequent flyer, it might give you a chuckle! I told this true story last year, and it quickly became a favorite of mine, and was well enjoyed by readers, so it deserves a place in my blog! Also, see my entry called <a href="#8" style="text-decoration: none;"><font color="00000">"</font>Today's Epiphany",</a> by scrolling down on this page. Never had a quote been so relevant. LOL!<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />**Foreward:**</span><br />_______________<br /><br />Although it may seem that this level of sheer and utter boorishness exists on a scale almost difficult to imagine possible, I am about to tell this account without exaggeration. This ACTUALLY happened.<br />_______________<br /><br />1- Changed a return date on a plane ticket on an airline that will go unmentioned. Did this over the phone, paid the 100 dollar change fee. Was initally told I could not change the return ticket because the reservation was not paid for by myself, and only an authorized party could make the changes. I had to explain that it is my name on the ticket, and since I would be flying, I am an authorized party. WHY I had to explain that, was ridiculous. They had to ask a supervisor if a ticket holder holds authorization?! UM..ok. Thats about as intelligent as visiting a farm to see if a cow moo's!<br /><br />2- As a preventative, I called back after talking to the geniuses with said airline, so that I could confirm with a different agent, that my reservation was indeed updated. I was told that there was no history of payment on the itenerary change. After speaking with 5, yes 5 new reps,and reminding them all, that I already paid for the changes, I was told all was good to go, payment was found, and that the temporary disappearance was due to a minor glitch in syncing the east coast and west coast systems together. Payment wasnt showing on the east coast systems.<br /><br />3- Now, after having talked with 7 different agents for over two hours to complete what I've done a million times in 2 minutes MAX - I decided, I should call, again - just to be sure. Suprise suprise. The 7 geniuses I had talked to..STILL didnt get it right, and also..gave me the WRONG confirmation code. I spent another hour on the phone getting them to FIND my reservation which - yep, you guessed it. Still wasnt changed. Having to use every bit of strength I had in me to not spew profanities at the sheer incompetence that was everpresent with these <span style="font-style: italic;">tools</span>, I decided it was in both parties best interests for me to authorize the exboyfriend to handle the changes..I was busy, and couldnt spend more time on the phone. And I'd just about ran out of patience. So I gave them his name as a party legally authorized to make changes to my ticket on my behalf.<br /><br />4- He called, and now, while they at last COULD find my reservation, they couldnt find HIS authorization to make changes on my account. (Yes the authorization I had just given not less than 2 minutes prior). He was on with them..for ANOTHER hour. I called in after getting a text from him. They connected us in a conference call. My ex, myself, east coast, and west coast. Only..when they connected to west coast, they accidentally hung up on the ex. So..I spent ANOTHER hour on the phone. Transfered between these two people and I think, although I lost count, another 5 reps. Who all said their systems were out of sync. Oh, and I cant forget to add that during the hour my ex had spent on the phone with them, he, also, had the pleasure of having to speak with 4 different agents before I was conferenced.<br /><br />5- I finally get told that there are notes in both coasts to permit me to fly. Fine, After what was eventually 5 hours, and, collaboratively between myself and my ex, conversations with almost 20 reps later (just, I remind you, to change a *@*@ ticket)..I hung up, and went to bed. Ready to fly the next day.<br /><br />6- I woke up the next morning early enough to get to the airport several hours prior to takeoff. I anticipated the 99% likelihood that I would be interacting with pointdexter's arch nemesis himself, after the debacle with 20-some odd rocket scientests at said airline the day before. Well, upon my arrival at the kiosk, I was informed that syncing was no longer an issue. Now, there was <span style="font-style: italic;">no record of me even having a ticket</span>. I didn't exist on the system. I spent an hour and a half at the kiosk, and the agent had the gall to tell me..that <span style="font-weight: bold;">*I*</span> had to call reservations again, cause <span style="font-weight: bold;">SHE</span> was going on break. Yes. You read that right. Going..<span style="font-style: italic;">on break</span>. While I was trying to get to another <span style="font-style: italic;">country</span>. Please..go..<span style="font-style: italic;">enjoy your smoke</span>.<br /><br />7-So there I stood, on the phone with reservations, my heart racing in what would become rage by the end of the call. I was still at the kiosk, now trying to get the attention of an agent. I was, afterall, in the front of the line. After several <span style="font-style: italic;">"excuse me miss'es"</span>..I received no "<span style="font-style: italic;">can I help you's</span>" and, not even any "<span style="font-style: italic;">one moment please's</span>"..what I did get from four different agents, were looks, and the <span style="font-style: italic;">walking away of each one of them</span>..to help other patrons! BUT I WAS AT THE FRONT OF THE LINE!! Ok, so THAT was what made me lose it! "Oh my GOSH!" I actually yelled this aloud. And a man behind the kiosk yelled back! "Can you WAIT?" to which I shouted back:<br />"Have you NOT seen me standing here for over an hour!?..how about a verbal response when a paying customer tries repeatedly to get your attention? Not to mention a customer who has spent enough on your airline over the years to buy one of your aircrafts? IS that asking for much?"<br /><br />8- So I was kept waiting another 15 minutes. Apparently, getting mad at the ticketing agent didn't do the trick, and I was still on the phone on a long distance call (I did not call the 800 number). A long distance call I was on <span style="font-style: italic;">for a very long time</span>. A call, that SHOULD have been made.<span style="font-style: italic;">.by the agent at the kiosk</span>. NOT by myself. But she must've been a chainsmoker, because she never did re-emerge from the "break" she so desperately needed to take the moment I got to her kiosk.<br />Eventually, a new agent asked me what was wrong, and I said "reservations asks to speak with you to sync the system manually so that you can find my ticket. They are on the phone now, and have found my ticket, but need to speak with an agent for processing". Well, get ready for this: she REFUSED to take the phone! I said "No, you MUST take the phone, they TOLD ME you must take the phone. <span style="font-style: italic;">Take the phone</span>!"<br /><br />9- Another 45 minutes later, and I am now 15 minutes from boarding the plane, and I hadn't even passed through security yet. The reservations agent she was now on the phone with, (the one who said she fixed it but needed to speak with an agent to sync)..now..once again, lost my ticket. HOW she did this without leaving the computer, is beyond me. They transferred to another reservations rep to try to fix the issue. The agent explained that I needed to get to my gate or I would not board, and it just happened to be the last flight leaving that day. The reservations agent told her I would need to <span style="font-weight: bold;">BUY THE TICKET AGAIN</span>..because of the problem with THEIR SYSTEMS!!<br /><br />Ok, at that point, I was like..forget patience! I went apeshit, and could not control the profanity that escaped my lips. Much to the shock of the agents being called, among other things, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">f&amp;@#! incompetent idiots!!</span>", (which I felt was an understatement - I thought THAT was being rather nice given the circumstance at the time)..the biggest shock to me came when, while being belligerent, some random guy decides that point in time would be a perfect time to proceed to hit on me. "<span style="font-style: italic;">Mmm..you can fly with me sexy</span>"..<br /><br />Er..in the middle of a verbal rampage would <span style="font-style: italic;">NOT</span> be the best time to woo me, Romeo.<br /><br />At the end of the day, my belligerence paid off, they let me fly last minute, without having to repay..and I ran top speed to the gate and JUST made boarding.<br /><br />I got to my seat, covered in sweat from my flash-like sprint through the airport..and looked down at the last empty chair on the fully seated plane..which was COVERED.. seat and floor.. with spilled peanuts, and a rolled up tissue and half a pack of halls.<br /><br />Did I mention I'm a germaphobe?<br /><br />Ah, the stories of air travel.<br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >THE BRITNEY SPEARS DEBACLE<br /><i>from my perspective.</i></span></span><br /><br />The woman just had her kids taken away, of course she would have a<br />meltdown.<br /><br />For the average layman or laywoman who has never been in the<br />limelight or felt the pressures surrounding being a sought after (for<br />positive or other) celebrity, it's pretty ignorant to say she asked<br />for it.<br /><br />Millions of people outside of the celebrity realm suffer from various<br />forms of depression and many who do not seek help and/or do not<br />recognize the very real problem they have, will more than likely<br />delve into some form of security blanket/false comfort:<br /><br />be it binge eating, promiscuity, drugs, or alcohol..<br /><br />to temporarily escape what they view as, and what sometimes is,<br />larger than what they can control.<br /><br />Flashing and blinding paparazzi lights and car hugging enthusiasts<br />are to blame for feet being run over, almost anyone in that situation<br />would have accidentally done the same.<br /><br />Many women opt not wear panties, they, though, don't have hoards of<br />men chasing them trying to get an up skirt camera shot for a cool mil.<br /><br />So often you keep hearing people say 'celebrities are real<br />people'..but more often, people treat them like higher than thou<br />trash. Their susceptibility to mental illness based on <i>product - of<br />- environment theory</i> (a theory I strongly support) is quadruple fold what an ordinary persons' would be in contrast to a sedentary lifestyle, or one that does not mimic the life of a 'superstar'.<br /><br />Britney, and others like her who started out young, could not possibly have had the foresight to fully comprehend everything that comes along with being a growing human being under a massive spotlight.<br /><br />All of those 'entertainment programs' like to showcase 'psychologists' and/or psychiatrists' on their programs to try to add a flare of 'honesty' and 'integrity' (notice the quotes) in entertainment journalism.<br /><br />As I see it, I think it's pretty darn unethical to diagnose someone who is a stranger to you, who has never sat on your couch, and whom you know nothing about, much less a background history on the subjects family life, other than what is displayed, cropped, and <span style="font-style: italic;">edited-for-grandiose-glorification-in-order-to-merit-a-profit</span> - on TV.<br /><br />For said 'psychologists/analysts/chiatrists' throwing around the term "trainwreck" so often when referencing other strangers they don't know, like Lindsay Lohan, Anna Nicole Smith, etc, one begins to wonder - rephrase - one who exists within the minority of people in realm of those who can think outside of the box and are capable of independent thought - if the credentials of said analysts are legitimate, and/or what school that taught them compassion, and integrity to their clients would also teach them slander as well?<br /><br />Being a professional in mental health, and using the term 'trainwreck', combined with diagnosing based on edited footage, looks like, walks like, and talks like..<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">a crock.</span></span><br /><br />I feel bad for her.<br /><br />Because I DO see her as a human.<br /><br />Pity be on those who find themselves working in the mental health field finding jest in the misfortunes of those for which they took an unconditional vow to honor.<br /><br />And all, for 15 minutes on an entertainment program and some money in the bank.<br /><br />What a world.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/bunnyinabananasuit/R1uMWzIJkDI/AAAAAAAAAMI/c6s8DeZPpsU/roseyellow.jpg" /><br /></p><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >A BRAVE YOUNG WOMAN</span></span><br /><br />Today a very brave young woman gave me the greatest early Christmas gift that I could ever (earthly) ask for.<br /><br />It was, through her words, viewing her newly found courage, that I feel humbled, and braver..<br /><br />..through being informed of her new found strength, that I feel thankful, and stronger.<br /><br />You, 'anonymous' woman..are a <span style="font-weight: bold;">WARRIOR</span>.<br /><br />Thank you so very much for the gift you have given me, channeled through your prowess.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><img src="http://lh5.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/R0qqSSRpckI/AAAAAAAAALY/Yc7WxIz3_mM/worldvisioneditedbanner.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >It's About That Time of Year Again..</span></span><br /><br />With the Christmas season rapidly approaching, many are making a gift list and checking it twice!<br /><br />Why not give a one time gift that has the potential to save a life, with no contractual obligations?<br /><br />Through World Vision you can give a one time gift, some, priced as low as $30!<br /><br /><b><i>What are they?</i></b><br /><br />Numerous necessities, like goats and pigs - which provide milk, wool, work, and profit for children and families in need; shelters, counseling and potential reassignment into a loving home for women and children involved in the sex trade in impoverished nations, fresh water from a well..the list goes on!<br /><br />The true value of the holiday season, I believe, is the enrichment you can provide in the life of a stranger.<br /><br />Google or visit the links by clicking on the banners below to find the World Vision Organization in your nation for more information.<br /><br /><b>IN CANADA:</b> <a href="http://www2.worldvision.ca/gifts/app"><img src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories/worldvision.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><b>IN THE U.S.A.:</b> <a href="http://donate.wvus.org/OA_HTML/xxwvibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?lid=3000&amp;lpos=fea_btn_GiftCatalog&amp;section=10024"><img src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories/worldvision.jpg" /></a><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >I AM THANKFUL..</span></span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories/mbstuff/hairbandcandycane.jpg" /><br /><br />for those people I can call not acquaintances, but friends.<br /><br />Those precious few who have been with me from the beginning of my career, who stood and continue to stand the test of time..<br /><br />who never look at me as a different person..but see me for what I am and the positive things that I will become.<br /><br />Who understand and respect the give and take of a relationship; who ask with or without receiving and still look at me the same way..<br /><br />who value the person before the title.<br /><br />You are my selective few - and your loyalty is greatly appreciated.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" ><a name="8">TODAY'S EPIPHANY!</a></span></span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.rosalynd.com/main/images/stories//cropepiphany.jpg" /><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" ><a name="12">HEROES</a></span></span><br /><br /><img src="http://lh6.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/R0qw4iRpclI/AAAAAAAAALg/UpvGo-420Q8/mirrorme2.jpg" /><br /><br /><i>Who is my hero?</i><br /><br />In the utmost un-narcissistic way, the answer to that would humbly be my mental exaggeration of myself.<br /><br />The self of which I am not at present day, but the self I seek to become.<br /><br />The self with complete spiritual enlightenment - the self who takes none of my accomplishments as the highest level of achievement - the self that always reminds me I can do better, and fly over any plateau.<br /><br />My true hero is the me I aspire to be.<br /><br />The me of the future.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><a name="22"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/bunnyinabananasuit/R1uXxjIJkEI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/jhNfpuInPS4/banners01.jpg" /><br /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >SOMETHING FUNNY AND GROSS AT THE SAME TIME. A TRUE TALE ABOUT SLACKERS, ETIQUETTE, AND THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY.</span></span><br /><i>The following is a real CUSTOMER FEEDBACK COMPLAINT: I just sent to an airline that shall go unnamed.</i><br /><br />Hello, my name is (edited) and I just recently flew to (edited) from (edited) via (edited).<br /><br />Upon boarding the plane in (edited), I was two things: hungry, and tired. I thought, what better time than to rest my eyes, and buy a meal. I had been told by the agent at the kiosk that no one would sit in the middle seat.<br /><br />I soon discovered that sleep would be out of the question as a team of teenage girls began talking obscenely loudly the whole flight.<br />This, however, is not the complaint. I realize that all comes with the territory while flying coach.<br /><br />Getting to the issue at hand..I have flown around the world, and remember the good ole days when food was served free of charge, a kind compliment of sorts, from the airline for the expensive fare fees. Well, those days have gone, and I found myself purchasing an on flight meal, my stomach was growling.<br /><br />Sleep,<br /><br />uncheck.<br /><br />Hunger?<br /><br />Let's try to check that.<br /><br />So I ordered an overpriced sandwich, as the miniature trick-or-treat sized sample of pretzels (accurately named 'Bits and Bites' - go figure) provided on board certainly didn't do the trick. I unwrapped the package, waiting to dig in to satiate myself. Perhaps the irritability I felt coursing through my veins as a result of the obscenely loud girls surrounding me proved higher because of hunger?<br /><br />Well, at that precise moment, the girl sitting in the aisle next to me (as you recall, the middle seat was empty) decides to stretch her legs out ALL THE WAY past the confines of her seat, toward my direction, taking off her shoes and socks - apparently oblivious to the odor filling the air - and, unknowingly, or, perhaps, knowingly, leaned her bare toes against the cellphone holder on my bag.<br /><br />Ok, have I mentioned I am a recovering OCD?<br /><br />That was pretty bad, but, oh yes, it got worse.<br /><br />The very second I finished unwrapping the sandwich and took my first bite, the same girl decides, she wants to sleep comfortably, so, she pulls down the table tray, and puts both of her bare feet on it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Facing me.</span></span><br /><br />I guess she found it rather difficult to sleep, because just as everyone began eating, she decided to PICK THE CALLUSES on her friggin feet, front and centre on the tray table.<br /><br />Not wanting to make a scene, I figured, surely, the flight attendants, trained for safety and passenger comfort, would tell the girl that her behavior was not only unhygienic, but inappropriate. And, score! There were two flight attendants, coming our direction! But alas, and to my shock and chagrin, they both just smiled at her, and said nothing.<br /><br />Now, I repeat, I am not one to create a scene, but I remind you that I had just wasted my money on an overpriced sandwich I could not eat, because I had lost my appetite.<br /><br />I may as well have tossed that money into the garbage collection bag - which, coincidentally, is exactly where the sub sandwich I ordered, minus one minuscule bite, wound up.<br /><br />So there I sat for the duration of the flight: uncomfortable, starving, grossed out, slightly poorer, and the stench in the air from her feet torturing the senses.<br /><br />I wonder, what extensive training does (edited) implement for their staff?<br /><br />Why, I spend a lot of time in planes, and without fail, there is ALWAYS a handful of random passengers who leave their ipods on before reaching cruising altitude and on descent, and the tools who leave their chair backs fully reclined, after the PA system request to straighten up, AND after a personal visit from the flight attendant repeating the command, who almost always leaves BEFORE the passenger <span style="font-style: italic;">fails to comply</span>, and walks by again, without<br />noticing the seat backs are <span style="font-style: italic;">still down</span>!<br /><br /><br />So, yeah, I get that air travel is safe. I get that one or two little iPods likely wont cause a large interference with the control deck, in contrast, to say, 135 of them on all at once. But even one, repeatedly? Or, have these passengers ever thought that if there was an accident (as unlikely as that would be) that the wires around their necks pose a choking and whipping hazard to everyone on board at speeds exceeding 500 mph?<br /><br />Why are those rules so strictly voiced within the airline industry, if the flight attendants do not properly implement them, risking both the comfort, hygiene, and safety of all passengers on board?<br /><br />I have been left quite disappointed with the (edited) experience.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><img src="http://lh5.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/RwLmRUb91eI/AAAAAAAAAJg/J5U_NlCY1us/dove_flying.jpg" /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">LETTING GO OF CHANCE (you know who you are).</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Today I let go of chance.<br />I choose to remember only the memories of the distant past,<br />the pages burned with events of yesteryear, vaccuum sealed in glass..<br />off to sail ashore, floating away in the distance..<br />set to return to me, nevermore.</span><br /><br />Letting go of you will undoubtedly be one of the hardest things I will have ever had to conquer, but I will prevail..our time as lovers, confidantes, and as friends - has run it's course.<br /><br />We have tried, we have misunderstood, this was not the first, but the finale of many between us.<br /><br />I have learned a lot from you, I have grown. I have also learned what I shall never again stand for in any capacity; as well, learned I need to improve myself.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />I have,<br /><br />I know,<br /><br />I will.</span><br /><br />Goodbye to you, the one I once called, 'the diamond of my eye'.<br /><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >MOOD: GRATEFUL</span></span><br /><br /><img src="http://lh3.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/R0qynyRpcmI/AAAAAAAAALo/4y8J7DqQmfc/medvd.jpg" /><br /><br />As I sit here in the desert, overlooking the mountains, the lush greenery, the ever expansive sky, and the glorious sun that beholds all life, I find myself at peace.<br /><br />I also find myself chalk full of a myriad of emotions: my stomach, tied in bittersweet knots - an unpleasureable sensation derivative of only magnificence - of a realm I am about to step foot into.<br /><br />Of bewilderment - shy, timid, excited - like a child in a candy store, or, that precious moment, that virgin feeling, recaptured - of a child, first setting foot in a field of grass, each strand tickling the ankles, millions of strands - stretched as far as the eye can see - indefinite in this world. Life that was once in hibernation, once withered, now renewed.<br /><br />But above all, I feel grateful.<br /><br />I am about to venture into something in my life, that is delightfully enthralling.<br /><br />A good friend once pointed out, and reminded me, when I needed to hear it - of my many fortunes. Just a few days ago, I was at the private home of a pro athlete, at an exclusive gathering, mingling with some of pro sports leading men and famous faces in modern music; months ago, I sat with various entertainers in pop culture, and, in a few days time, will be at dinner with one celebrities cater to. Today, I am on the road, traveling with a pro sport team, an all star sleeps in the suite next to mine.<br /><br />I was previously numb to it all, and, in a sense, I suppose I still am. I view, and always have viewed, celebrities as 'just people'..but, after talking with my friend, I came to the realization that there are many people, who are experiencing misfortune, and, then, even more people, (a lot of whom are children) make wishes through foundations, fan letters, hospitals, and auctions to just have five minutes alone with the people with whom I am entertained, and simply call 'friends'.<br /><br />It was my friend, who made me realize, that, wow, this is pretty sweet.<br /><br /><img src="http://lh3.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/RwPc6kb91gI/AAAAAAAAAJw/8j9LnEqYxsc/tommyandmepreview11.jpg" /><br /><br />When I look at my career, and all I have done, and the whose who, and what's what of what I have been offered, what I have turned down, and what I accepted, the iconic figures I have met, then take into consideration, my height, my natural un-enhanced body, I realize that I have defied the odds in my field. And for that, I am thankful.<br /><br />So, this post is one of gratitude.<br /><br />Thank you to everyone who believes in me.<br /><br />Thank you, to the one, for whom the following prose (posted below, under 'the sad thing about the human ego') was inspired by. You helped me define me. Every emotion, good or bad, felt from, or as a byproduct of you - moved me. Thank you.<br /><br />To quote the work of Deepak Chopra:<br /><br />A lover asked his beloved,<br /><br />"Do you love yourself more than you love me?"<br /><br />Beloved replied:<br /><br />"I have died to myself and I live for you.<br />I've disappeared from myself and my attributes.<br />I am present - <span style="font-style: italic;">only for you</span>.<br /><br />I've forgotten all my learnings,<br />but from knowing you I've become a scholar.<br />I've lost all my strength,<br />but from your power I am able.<br /><br />I love myself...I love you.<br />I love you...I love myself."<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Wednesday September 19, 2007</span></span><br /><img src="http://lh5.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/RvCk4BWU40I/AAAAAAAAAI4/JtCBcY7DBUc/rose01.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >THE SAD THING ABOUT THE HUMAN EGO</span></span> (some random thoughts I am having right now).<br /><br />What is most unfortunate about the loss of a relationship, be it mental, physical, or spiritual is, in itself, the fragility of the human psyche.<br /><br />When two adults fail to accept and make apologies because of stupid, selfish and juvenile ego.<br /><br />Call it arrogance, call it conceit. Label it one thousand ways, and it will always come back to ego.<br /><br />The debate that escalates into a pissing match, sparked by real emotion, unsuppressed sincerity, passion, and timid reluctance; the primitive hissyfit that defiles and wounds the opponent, despite what one may truly feel inside..those <i>real</i> words one dares not say in the light of day, but screams inside one's mind..the words that beg to be cried out in the presence of the opposition - that despite the sting of their verbal whip, and the silence that roars thunderously upon one's shoulders, and, despite the imbecile errors of the ways of the wounded, - that somewhere in the distance, <span style="font-style: italic;">despite it all</span>..and beneath the ego and exterior wall formed of steel - the soul lost remains unconditionally loved..<br /><br />And in the battle between ego and fate, the hymn of a bittersweet symphony can be heard as the once valiant surrenders themself to an eternal musing of what would have been, could have been, combined with memories of the good times that were - before ego blinded the senses and silenced the unspoken words of the heart.<br /><br /><img src="http://lh5.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/RvCk4BWU40I/AAAAAAAAAI4/JtCBcY7DBUc/rose01.jpg" /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >UPDATE RE: Tougher Animal Cruelty Laws for Ontario PETITION</span></span><br /><br />Thanks to those who signed the petition. Your support helped lay the pressure on the McGuinty government to toughen laws on animal cruelty.<br /><br />A lot of the following 'promises' are reliant on the liberals coming out on top in the next Ontario provincial election; but immediate changes have already been implemented, which include an annual budget increase of $381 000, which will provide improved training sessions for animal investigators.<br /><br />Providing the liberals win the election, promises have been made to amend an 80 year old provincial animal protection and cruelty act, toward more befitting punishments being implemented upon animal abusers.<br /><br />The amendment will make animal abuse a criminal offense provincially - punishable by a maximum $25,000 fine and up to five years in jail.<br /><br />Its a small start, but a small start is better than a large standstill.<br /><br />Thank you to those who signed the petition!<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><img src="http://lh4.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/Rs_P27H9ORI/AAAAAAAAAHU/qH5YrFyHYCg/nancy.jpg" /><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >POSTSECRET VIDEO:<br />(taken from <a href="http://www.postsecret.com/">postsecret.com</a>)</span></span> <br /><br />This video just made me cry REALLY hard. I am a huge advocate of the Postsecret project, and this tribute from the founder of the project, Frank Warren, is beyond moving. Frank, you are welcome - and THANK YOU - truly - THANK YOU.<br /><br />Click on the arrow to watch the video, and be sure to check out <a href="http://www.postsecret.com/">POSTSECRET.COM</a>.<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/B6rTkp1dek4"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/B6rTkp1dek4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><img src="http://lh5.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/RskIDrH9OQI/AAAAAAAAAG0/g1h7Pg8pNkA/meface01.jpg" /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >ME TIME: as a woman.. </span></span><br /><br />Many of my posts have been in support of organizations I support and/or movements and integrations of which I am in favor.<br /><br />This entry is a little more - me. Also, a little more - you - the reader - he, or she, who lives in a mans' world.<br /><br />Those who know me personally, know of my controversial belief in gender roles. Some call it noble, to others, the concept is archaic. I am an out and devout anti-feminist, who happens to not be a separatist, nor am I an advocate of gender equality. I suppose this may be one subject in which the label 'enigma' (which I have been donned many a time) would be feasible.<br /><br />Given my stance on feminism, I still cant help but notice the misogynous times we are living in. I am now living my 25th year on this planet - a young woman, who no longer has that innocence of yesteryear, or that age-appropriate naive. The blinders of youth have vanished in regards to the notion that the women's movement has made significant progress in re-molding the minds of the masses.<br /><br />Misogyny is everywhere - traces of it, even heard in the otherwise innocent comments overheard from children frolicking in the playground, to the workforce, and even, in the medical practice. In men, in children, teens, and even, in women themselves.<br /><br />One can hear misogynous comments in a doctor, or friend, consoling a woman, who has had her heart broken by a cheating lover - "<span style="font-style: italic;">you have to pick better men - its the people you are choosing</span>" - instead of, "<span style="font-style: italic;">hey, wait a minute - that clown was a creep. Pick up your feet, it's his loss</span>". (The primary indicating the woman was at fault for the mans' behavior).<br /><br />They can be seen in interpersonal relationships in the workforce, or amongst couples, or friends, where a woman is to be seen and not heard, because certainly if she has an opinion, she is some breed of crazy. We live in a world were when a man is assertive, he is a leader, but when a woman is assertive, she is a bitch.<br /><br />Now don't get me wrong, as said, I believe strongly in gender roles, and, I believe feminists LARGELY contribute to many of the difficulties both women and society, and interpersonal relationships face - but women, women are not given the respect they deserve. Not by others, and definitely not even, to each other.<br /><br />It is bad enough that most women have no clue how to control the primitive urge to be territorial around other women - but must they delve into the misogynous way of thinking as well?<br /><br />So what do I want? Many things the feminists created to be eradicated for number one, but above all respect for women. Not as creatures who supersede men, because I certainly don't agree with that - but as <span style="font-style: italic;">women</span>. I want to not have to act flattered when a man tells me he is enamoured by my intelligence, what with how I look and all. Yeah, thanks, I think? I'd like to stop hearing how anything ill done to a woman by her lover is always the womans fault. I'd like to stop seeing people who flaunt a superiority complex over women as a whole. I see it in my workforce (although, no one does it to me - they know better!): the whole <span style="font-style: italic;">'you need me to make you - do as I say'</span> complex. I'd like to see those, who are outspoken on gender roles instead of hiding behind money, power, or position. I believe the man is, and should be at the top. I believe a woman should cater to her man, and respect herself, others, and her male counterparts. So what? What is so bad about admitting that to yourself, and to the world? When one chooses to hide the fact under a gloating, boasting ego - it just comes off as arrogant.<br /><br />I guess, what I am saying is, many of men, and, some women (take myself for example) believe in gender roles. That belief is nothing to be ashamed of, and it <span style="font-style: italic;">can be</span> expressed in a manner that is non misogynistic. Unfortunately, most don't know how to, or are too afraid to decorously articulate that.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><img src="http://lh4.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/Rsjy6rH9OLI/AAAAAAAAAF0/HTcpM1fpfd0/pitbull1.jpg" /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >MY THOUGHTS ON MICHAEL VICK - another perspective, delivered to the supporters who liken his slayings to the slayings in the meat packing industry: </span></span><br /><br />I am a carnivore. Humans are born carnivorous. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Yes, I am aware we are, by definition, natural borned Omnivores. Omnivores are carnivores and vegetarians, therefore, it is appropriate to call oneself either of the two, or one, or all three. YES, humans are carnivores - in that right. READ: I am emphasizing carnivores to make a point).</span><br /><br />There exists a food chain, humans reside at the top of it. The meat carnivores eat came from a life that served a purpose.<br /><br />The carcass that is defiled, the animal that is abhorrently tortured and whose remains are excavated for reasons other than consumption by the executioner, served a life of nothing more than a victim - of greed and malevolence. The bitches are force bred for no other reason than to be slaughtered.<br /><br />1.Eating animals for nourishment<br /><br />2. Killing animals for fun - abusing the carcass and senseless torture<br /><br />= Big difference.<br /><br />The two cannot be compared - they exist in completely different realms.<br /><br />If Michael Vick is found innocent, perhaps his case should set a movement toward implementing tougher sentences on anyone who abuses and/or neglects a life.<br /><br />We all know the story - if Vick is found guilty, sponsors will bow out, he will be given a slap on the wrist sentence, perhaps a minor fine, and will fade into media obscurity for a short time span - just long enough for the general populous to 'forget'.<br /><br />What happens after? When Vick, in all likelihood, acquires new sponsors, is drafted unto a new team? Is once again, spiraled up into the spotlight of infamy and adoration? Will a fine that made but a dent in his pocket compare to the slabs of gold he could afford at the cost of bloody and battered canine carcasses?<br /><br />If all goes back to normal in his life - and the brief jail sentence exists as nothing more than a blip in time - a blur of the memory -<br /><br />can we truly say, not only as animal activists or animal lovers - but as citizens residing in what is deemed a fair, just, and democratic society - that justice has prevailed? <br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.torontohumanesociety.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/Rr_YVb9VquI/AAAAAAAAADM/EFZ6Pd56pHU/s400/ths_logo_tan3.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098031166000573154" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" >MY OPEN LETTER TO AGENT TRE SMITH OF THE TORONTO HUMANE SOCIETY:</span><br /><br />I support what you did. There were two lives in danger - yours, threatened by a belligerent man, and the dog, who would have died without your intervention. What allegedly happened to the man in question is not your fault. Any man of peacekeeping credential, if faced with a life saving situation, would have done exactly as you did.<br /><br />The temporary suspension with which you have been dealt can be likened to animal cruelty in itself - the actions taken against you are clearly representative of society's nonchalant lack of affinity for lives they deem to be nothing more then sub-species vermin. Cowards who see only the hierarchy of men, power, and potential financial loss.<br /><br />Those who handed you your punishment in your time of heroism - simply didn't care. The 'man' who left the dog unattended - simply didn't care.<br /><br />THEREIN lies the problem. Turn your back to it, and it goes away. We need more attention drawn to this serious issue and I can guarantee you that country wide, the majority of citizens collectively hope that you will be the man who will direct this foul behavior and our sub-par laws into the hands of the Ontario government.<br /><br />It's high time people realize tougher laws against ANY form of life needn't be a society privilege - tougher laws against cruelty need to be a RIGHT!!<br /><br />Bravo, sir, bravo.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">If you have not heard of the horrid story behind why Mr. Smith had his duties temporarily revoked, please read my brief summary below, and visit each link to get informed. Do your part, pass the word. And please <a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/ths0708/petition.html">SIGN THE PETITION </a> demanding tougher laws on animal cruelty. Every vote counts - the petition will be delivered to Premier McGuinty &amp; the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.</span></span><br /><br />NEVER leave your pet in a car in the heat - ever!<br /><br />A man did so in Toronto recently, in the two hours the dog was left in the car, the interior reached a sweltering 70 degrees Celsius (that is a whopping 158 degrees Fahrenheit!)<br /><br />If it wasn't for bystanders and an animal control officer, the dog would have died. Unfortunately, the officer has been stripped of his duties for saving a dog who was foaming at the mouth, gasping for air.<br /><br />The owner of the dog was visiting his friends in a nearby complex when he heard his car alarm go off. He then came out of the complex belligerent and the officer rightfully handcuffed him to the vehicle to calm him down - as he needed to give mouth to mouth to the dog, who was unconscious by the time he was pulled from the vehicle.<br /><br />Bystanders who witnessed the event allegedly assaulted the handcuffed man, who now has the gall to cry foul.<br /><br />Read the article, and please pass this message along.<br /><br />This is such an important issue, as clearly the law is not completely on the side of the humane.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_13345.aspx%20">STORY LINK 1</a><br /><a href="http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_13622.aspx">STORY LINK 2</a><br /><br />Please sign the petition, which will be forwarded to the Ontario gvn't demanding tougher laws for animal cruelty:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/ths0708/petition.html">PETITION</a><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RsJX2b9VqyI/AAAAAAAAADs/cI8Fc-Tf72s/s1600-h/thanksballoon.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RsJX2b9VqyI/AAAAAAAAADs/cI8Fc-Tf72s/s400/thanksballoon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098734320866405154" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UPDATE! 440 NEW SIGNATURES TO THE PETITION IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS!</span><br /><br />THANK YOU to those of you who stood up for an important cause and<br />chose to sign the Petition for Tougher Laws on Animal Cruelty -<br />which is set to be delivered into the hands of the Ontario<br />Legislative Assembly.<br /><br />There have now been 440 new signatures to the petition in less than<br />24 hours. Every one of you who signed has already made a very large<br />stand in our society, and you should be proud- wishes and change<br />cannot be heard or implemented though silence.<br /><br />There have been a few postings on the web regarding Agent Tre Smith<br />- thank you for your dialogue. Again, whether many agree or<br />disagree with the actions taken against Mr. Smith by the SPCA or<br />with the actions of Smith himself, the fact that a dialogue even<br />exists is crucial towards a change.<br /><br />I do want to clarify, however, that the petition is NOT about Agent<br />Tre Smiths' actions that day, the petition is the public - your -<br />demand for tougher laws against any and everyone who beats,<br />injures, or otherwise harms an innocent life - the life of an<br />animal. The petition demands more than a mere minor fine, or slap<br />on the wrist, blink of an eye jail sentence. The petition demands<br />befitting legal repercussions against those who bring neglect or<br />violent harm onto an animal.<br /><br />Again, thank you to everyone who took a few seconds out of their<br />day to make a very large statement. You are appreciated!<br /><br />Spread the word, use the power of the internet, and word of mouth, I have been posting this in various public forums, emails, websites, etc. as well as telling people who I know care. Do your part, take a stand against animal cruelty.<br /><br />If you haven't already, sign the petition here:<br /><a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/ths0708/petition.html">http://www.petitiononline.com/ths0708/petition.html</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Some food for thought..</span></span><br /><br />By means of protocol, the board of the SPCA has temporarily stripped Smith of his duties. Smith, a humane investigator, has been quoted as saying "There's ten or fifteen calls a day of people leaving animals in cars." Now, I don't work in Animal cruelty investigations, but Smith does. However, common logic would say that at a rate of 105 animals a week being needlessly injured or killed through neglect (and that's NOT counting the violence against animal calls Smith also investigates) - that we need MORE officers on the street defending animal rights - NOT prohibiting the ones who already do from doing their jobs!<br /><br />WE, and our ancestors, are the ones who domesticated formerly wild animals. IT IS THEREFORE OUR DUTY to protect them, and let negligence and the inhumane be more befittingly punished under the law.<br /><br />Did you know that Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty once <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">re-delivered a beaten and confiscated canine BACK into the hands of his abuser</span></span>? It's true. Read the article <a href="http://www.torontohumanesociety.com/newsandevents/stories/2007/07-07e.asp">here</a>.<br /><br />McGuinty made mistakes in the past. Its time the masses correct that error.<br /><br /><p align="center"><img src="http://lh4.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/Rsj9-rH9OPI/AAAAAAAAAGU/n--bPglWMbI/s144/design00001.jpg" height="35" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><b><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >"You're obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you think absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social conventions you despise, condemn, and know lack all foundation. It is that permanent contradiction between your ideas and desires and all the dead formalities and vain pretenses of your civilization which makes you sad, troubled and unbalanced. In that intolerable conflict you lose all joy of life and all feeling of personality, because at every moment they suppress and restrain and check the free play of your powers. That's the poisoned and mortal wound of the civilized world." -TORTURE GARDEN - OCTAVE<br />MIRBEAU (The Mission, Chapter 8)</span></b></span></p><br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><a name="10"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:large;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">The demand for equality will never be heard when it is skewed by hypocrisy!</span></span></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/StM6xsHRMxI/AAAAAAAAAas/4uvPfkYK89k/s1600-h/bunny.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/StM6xsHRMxI/AAAAAAAAAas/4uvPfkYK89k/s400/bunny.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391717804222264082" /></a><br /> The demand for equality will never be heard when it is skewed by hypocrisy!<br /><br /><br /><br />CASE IN POINT:<br /><br />DOVE has this ludicrous campaign out that uses the terms "the search for REAL beauty" (that may or may not be verbatim - take it for what it is, that is the gist of it).<br /><br />I take issue to their campaign for several reasons.<br /><br />ONE: What we deem sexually appealing is a matter of ones own perspective of what is sexy. But where did we develop a taste for the aesthetically privileged? Are men Freudians? Is it through porn? Billboards? Has it been drilled into our subconscious that a chiseled male or large bosomed female are the elite human beings or quasi androids?<br /><br />So yeah, I GET the message. That we should learn to appreciate beauty in all forms, colors, shapes and sizes. I, for one, do find every woman on the face of the earth, brown, black, white, yellow, albino - magnificent. Fat, thin, curvy, flat. Whatever.<br /><br />But, hypothetically speaking, why the need for DOVE to insult the women who are<br /><br />a) born naturally thin, or<br />b) work out and live a lifestyle of healthy dietary habits and other regimens<br /><br />by segregating them to a class of what they deem 'lower life' anorexics or bulimics? (which is almost always the stereotype). Furthermore, why is an anorexic, who also shares a form of depression as felt by many of the obese, not seen as a real woman? Why does DOVE not only not congratulate the women who work hard at living a healthy lifestyle, but, actually go out of their way to make a cheap shot at them? Wasn't their entire motive based on unifying women as a whole and eliminating the stereotypes surrounding varying weights?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/StM642Hd3MI/AAAAAAAAAa0/iDvmbKIpQoY/s1600-h/mefrontal.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 264px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/StM642Hd3MI/AAAAAAAAAa0/iDvmbKIpQoY/s400/mefrontal.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391717927166532802" /></a> TWO: I remember, years back, when I was in high school, there was a red hot SKETCHERS shoe ad in an underground transit station. The ad depicted a thin, modestly busted woman in a polyvinyl nurse uniform, with a hint of cleavage, but nothing one would call remotely obscene. It had masses of feminists in an absolute tizzy. Protests, picketing, you name it, and the images were pulled and deemed 'offensive' within a week.<br /><br />However, when DOVE's "REAL" woman campaign reared it's hypocritical little head into the underground transit system, there was not one, not two, not three or four, but an entire row of ads depicting full figured women in bras and panties plastered on the very same walls the slim woman (who, remember, was fully covered in a dress) was stripped from. In fact, as one ventured further into the transit system and onto an actual train, or bus, there again, staring at you, were dozens of women in their skivvies. Not a peep from any feminist group in sight. Apparently, skinny women in dresses = unethical. Full figured gals in bras and panties = hunky dory for the school kids to see on their way to class.<br /><br />The whole thing left me somewhat miffed as to how I am supposed to accept fuller figure women and slender/fit women as a unity of shared beauty when the blatant metaphoric (and I use that term loosely) insults, segregation, and stereotypes were being pumped into the heads and faces of the masses of men, women and children who were forced to read what Dove's definition of a 'real woman' truly is.<br /><br />Its high time we (and I say this, as an out anti feminist who is nowhere near a misogynist) appreciate women of all creeds, shapes, colors, sizes, and appreciate and congratulate those who work hard to look the way they do. We also cant hide behind that silly PC blanket that says no to telling an obese loved one that hey - I love you the way you are, but you are at higher risk for diabetes, heart disease. That isn't an insult, its a fact. DOVE and the likes of who share a narrow perspective on the world and who are looking for a cheap and quick pat on the back from people who live as puppets on a string for a yes man society aren't going to get jack shit in terms of approval from those who can actually think outside of the box.Bunny In A Banana Suithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491876022488717136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35828686.post-69965222354394560462007-08-10T18:43:00.000-07:002008-12-10T09:04:10.346-08:00PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS: PROBLEM, or SOLUTION ? A Sneak Peek into an upcoming interview, with me.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/Rr0V479VqsI/AAAAAAAAAC8/5U6bbKs6_Y8/s1600-h/interviewpr.jpg"><img style="float:center; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/Rr0V479VqsI/AAAAAAAAAC8/5U6bbKs6_Y8/s400/interviewpr.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5097254421165091522" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;">S: First of all, the site looks great. I should mention that (RJ) is the official web and graphic designer for **.com.</span><br /><br />RJ: Thanks. I am glad you like it! I like your idea for "not just t&a". There is so much more to a real woman than just her physical attributes.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />S: Like being a doctor..and building websites..and sponsoring children...</span><br /><br />RJ: I'm not a doctor yet....and don't forget my insane photoshop skills!!!! [laughs]<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />S: [laughs] How Could I forget, you're a quadruple threat! So why psychiatry? Do you believe people need to be medicated?</span><br /><br />RJ: The last thing I will ever be is a drug pusher. There are many people with real illnesses who need drug intervention because talk therapy doesn't cut it. There is something very unconventional about sitting down with a complete stranger for 30 minutes to an hour, who has to read a file each time they see you to remember who you are. Not dismissing talk therapy but....<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">S: ...but you feel it shouldn't be used as the only means of healing mental illnesses?</span><br /><br />RJ: ..not necessarily in 100 percent of cases. The failure rate in any mental illness field is astronomically high. There are..theories..that certain depressive disorders, such as bi-polar disorder originate from a disturbance in the normal chemical composition found in an otherwise healthy brain. You get the naturopaths and spiritual healers, who tell you theory isn't fact, we shouldn't be pushing drugs. Well, Bausch and Lomb just recalled a contact lens solution because it made people go blind. Everything on the market carries with it risks.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">S: There are those who will argue that we are guinea pigs for a fairly modern form of healing. What do you say to them?</span><br /><br />RJ: Any drug put on the market in the past 20 years is still in it's infancy stage. We don't even know the long term risks of taking multivitamins. We do know that an excessive amount of certain vitamins can have mild to serious ramifications on the body. Then you have religious protests from people of public influence like Tom Cruise who have little to no understanding whatsoever of human chemistry. Not to mention, he doesn't even hold a degree in medicine. I have seen others change completely - for the better - with the intervention of psychiatric medications. There are would-be killers - of themselves, or of innocent members of society - who have been sedated and are continuing to repress violent urges because of medicinal aid.<br /><br />There are others, that just need a cold hard reality check, and need to take personal responsibility for their lives. They don't need drugs. They need to check their egos at the door. Within a few conversations with a person, and by viewing their various behaviors, its remarkably easy to tell the difference between the two.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">S: So would it be fair to say you walk the line of being pro-drug?<br /></span><br />RJ: I sit right on the line. Not everyone needs it. But there are those who do. Better to have a band-aid approach then no approach at all. Sedation over violence. Prevention over cure.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />S: You seem very passionate on the subject of medicine...</span><br /><br />RJ: Its all about helping people. There is no such thing as "crazy". Every human brain is susceptible to every mental illness. No one is invincible. We are products of evolution and of our environment..<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">S: Speaking of products of environment and helping people, tell us about your sponsor child. What was it like the first time you made that call?</span><br /><br />RJ: Elation. A large piece of fulfillment. My daughter, Nyasha, lives in an AIDS torn region in Zimbabwe, Africa. She is healthy, and an absolute delight!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">S: Are you planning a visit?</span><br /><br />RJ: I have always wanted to see the rainforests in Congo. Africa represents the beginning of life. Every human being should go at least once. With sponsoring Nyasha, I now have even more incentive to go.Bunny In A Banana Suithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491876022488717136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35828686.post-86569884845567239312007-08-04T23:50:00.001-07:002008-12-10T09:04:10.755-08:00THE GREAT DEBATE - where have all the intelligent minds gone?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RrV07b9VqnI/AAAAAAAAACU/Zz56XiValQs/s1600-h/mbavtfg.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RrV07b9VqnI/AAAAAAAAACU/Zz56XiValQs/s400/mbavtfg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5095107117905717874" /></a><br />I thrive on healthy debates. Most people haven't a clue how to debate without getting pissed off, or using cheap tactics like attempted character assassinations (to try to nullify the opponents entire 'argument' instead of offering an intelligent, calm rebuttal), or name calling/stereotyping when a counterpoint cannot be made. (Because most would rather try to void the opponents argument rather than risk admitting defeat).<br /><br />In fact, one of the qualities I look for in a man is his ability to own his thoughts, and bring them to the table in a civilized fashion. Its intensely satisfying mind sex.<br /><br />My way of speaking out is to try, to the best of my ability, to state facts, and truth in a non confrontational, non obtrusive manner.<br /><br />It's a common misbelief that one has to be arrogant to be outspoken.<br /><br />The most powerful messages you can send to another are through respectable dialogue.<br /><br />Where have all the intelligent minds gone?<br /><br />While most find humor in making masses of people angry in the win of a debate, (and, certainly, to a certain extent, it amuses even me). I, for the most part, find it less than unsatisfying - and, by less than unsatisfying, it's akin to a teenager making love for the first time, and, while in the midst of climax, your bedroom door opens, and there stands your entire family. Can you say, buzzkill?<br /><br />So what does debate have to do with peace? Everything! Your Presidents do it, scientists do it, countless notable corporations and individual powerhouses do it. The world needs to come together, <span style="font-style:italic;">collectively</span> on world issues, have an open dialogue, WITHOUT throwing out any kind of card, be it race, sex, whatever - just frank, honest discussion, backed by facts and a calm reserve.<br /><br />Almost every world issue exists in a realm that is neither black nor white. There is a larger grey area that exists as a DIRECT result of individuals who share different viewpoints failing to communicate in not only a mature fashion, but in a manner in which you not only speak, but you are also heard. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />HEALTHY DEBATES YIELD POSITIVE RESULTS!</span>Bunny In A Banana Suithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491876022488717136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35828686.post-62990456757623392632007-07-29T05:28:00.001-07:002008-12-10T09:04:10.959-08:00HAVE YOU PASSED THE WORD?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RqyLmL9VqmI/AAAAAAAAACM/x6YJMModJ80/s1600-h/memablook.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RqyLmL9VqmI/AAAAAAAAACM/x6YJMModJ80/s400/memablook.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092598766810540642" /></a><br />Toronto Humane society is overcrowding and adopting ALL species FREE OF CHARGE. Animal lovers please adopt.<br /><br />Donations are appreciated but not required. Please do your part to pass the word, the overcrowding is so large, some of the animals are living in CARRIERS!<br /><br />Most animals come spayed or neutered, trained, and with shots up to date. All ages. All species!Bunny In A Banana Suithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491876022488717136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35828686.post-27707073322832581512007-06-24T03:08:00.000-07:002008-12-10T09:04:11.352-08:00GENOGRAPHIC PROJECT! KNOW YOUR ROOTS!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/overview.html"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/Rn5Cynj_tNI/AAAAAAAAAB8/E8JMbB2Zf4Y/s400/genographic_logo.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5079570867101349074" /></a><br /><br />Where do you REALLY come from? Why did your ancestors come here? New DNA based research trace YOU..and your Y chromosome (males)/mitochondrial DNA (females).. back to your earliest ancestors..and even, to SCIENTIFIC ADAM. Please do your part in this study, and order the kit. This has got to be the coolest thing I've ever seen. Be a part of a worldwide study. Sponsored by IBM and National Geographic.<br /><br />As far as I am aware, my lineage derives maternally out of China, and paternally out of Ireland. It would be pretty sweet to learn the anthropological timeline of my ancestors - how and where they migrated over time.<br /><br />If you are interested in the study, click on the banner to order the kit, the project is accepting participants for only five years.Bunny In A Banana Suithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491876022488717136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35828686.post-34999066608174594562007-06-24T01:54:00.000-07:002008-12-10T09:04:11.362-08:00On the subject of blood donation!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bloodservices.ca/"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RsJYn79VqzI/AAAAAAAAAD0/1KVvMhM28Mo/s400/cblsvc.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098735171269929778" /></a><br /><a name="0107">So</a> I am slightly afraid of needles. And by slightly afraid of needles, I mean I will get a full on panic attack if I think hard enough about the tip of one penetrating my skin.<br /><br />In fact, I once fainted - out cold! - after getting my navel pierced!<br /><br />I have decided to suck it up and do what I have longed to do for a long time now - I am planning on becoming a blood donor.<br /><br />I attempted to donate not too long ago, but turns out I am borderline (meaning I am not, but close enough to being) anemic? Go figure.<br /><br />With some dietary guidelines, and a whole lot of bravery, I am preparing to donate sometime in the near future.<br /><br />I am looking forward to it, and hopefully I don't faint!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Want to donate blood?</span></span><br /><br />Dial 1 800 2 DONATE or drop into your local donor clinic with your photo ID ready. You need to be healthy and at least 110 pounds, and you shouldn't be on any kind on antibiotic or have had dental surgery prior to your visit. Screening includes a confidential interview in which questions about your health and donation history will be reviewed, followed up by a pin prick blood test, which measures the amount of hemoglobin in your blood. (Iron levels).<br /><br />Your blood pressure and body temperature will also be tested, and you need to be at least 17 years old to donate. Donation is 100 percent non profit - the gift you give is one of the most ultimate displays of human compassion and love - and that is something you cannot put a price tag on.<br /><br />I look forward to getting my iron levels adequate enough to be able to donate.<br /><br />If you are temporarily deferred from blood donation for any reason, be sure to ask the nurses which steps you can take to become eligible!Bunny In A Banana Suithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491876022488717136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35828686.post-22241761523435929152007-06-20T15:35:00.002-07:002008-12-10T09:04:11.865-08:00NO MORE FUR!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RnmujXj_tII/AAAAAAAAABU/EwhNWvPSCeo/s1600-h/fur1.jpg"><img style="float:center; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RnmujXj_tII/AAAAAAAAABU/EwhNWvPSCeo/s400/fur1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078281977480590466" /></a><br /><br />A while ago I received a chinchilla fur coat as a gift. Soon, I found myself meeting very interesting people, who I was slated to interview for my new and upcoming company.<br /><br />While doing my independent research on subjects I wasn't well versed on (so I could be prepared for my interview), I read about the horrors of how chinchilla fur is obtained.<br /><br />Chinchillas are bred in captivity, and slaughtered by electric shock administered in their nether regions. Their fur is then stripped and their carcasses disposed of as if they were trash - all for the purpose of fashion and profit!<br /><br />I choose to no longer wear fur. Mind you, I am a meat eater - I believe we were born omnivores, and, providing the livestock is killed in a humane fashion, I will eat it, as I believe eating meat is not only natural, it provides nutrients the human body requires - we were born as omnivores for a reason! At least when you wear leather, the rest of the cow is being eaten, and nothing goes to waste. Many animals, though, such as the chinchilla, are not used in the natural food chain, as they are only bred for fur, not for human consumption, and they do NOT exit their lives peacefully.<br /><br />As a result, I am putting my coat up for auction, as I refuse to sell for profit. All of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to humane societies and no kill shelters.<br /><br />Can you imagine how many chinchillas were slaughtered JUST to make this coat? (a chinchilla is not much bigger than a rat)!Bunny In A Banana Suithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491876022488717136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35828686.post-41426223992830642772007-06-20T14:36:00.000-07:002007-08-19T19:56:24.976-07:00PLEASE ADOPT FROM SHELTERS ONLY!<a href="http://www.torontohumanesociety.com"><img src="http://lh5.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/RsJahb9Vq0I/AAAAAAAAAD8/LLcDmf3bB0M/torontohumanesocietybanner.jpg"></a><br /><br />While I was researching information on several very interesting people for my new company, I came across some very disturbing news about pet stores.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">DID YOU KNOW THAT..</span></span><br /><br />any pets bought from a pet store (such as PJ's Pet Centre) ALL come from private breeders?<br /><br />The problems with buying pets from private breeders are many. Not only are you spending far more money than you would if you sought out adoption at a shelter or rescue, you are also supporting an industry that purposely breeds queens and bitches for life, only for the sole purpose of a profit.<br /><br />You have probably heard of the terrible conditions in which bitches reside in what are commonly called 'puppy mills' (and if you haven't, I suggest you google it), many of which suffer most of their lives - cramped together pumping out puppy after puppy until they are too old and no longer needed. The same thing happens with queens (pregnant cats).<br /><br />You may ask yourself, why not just buy the babies and the mother? Well, it does not quite work that way. Mothers are never allowed for sale, as they are needed to spawn more babies throughout their lifespan, who are then taken away from their mother time and time again- they are basically a 'cash cow', and you cannot buy money like that.<br /><br />Consider a purebred puppy or kitten, one of which would sell for a couple thousand, then multiply that by a litter, then multiply that by the amount of pregnancies and babies the mother is forced to produce in her lifetime, and, well, you could make quite a decent living off of it.<br /><br />The problem is, the babies that are not sold, are then taken to shelters, which are overcrowded as it is.<br /><br />Did you know that a very large part of shelters' finances come directly from donations? There is not enough funding, nor space to provide warmth, cages, food, and medicine to all of the animals in need in any shelter - which is why most shelters, unfortunately, are forced to euthanize (put to sleep) otherwise healthy animals - just to create space.<br /><br />Every time you buy from a breeder you support this cruel and unnecessary industry, where mothers are bred until they die, and babies are born only to be slaughtered if they don't produce a profit.<br /><br />Purebred pets are NOT an accessory, they are NOT a symbol of wealth. They are living, breathing, feeling creatures!<br /><br />PLEASE consider adoption as the sole means of obtaining a furry friend.<br /><br />You can adopt from rescues, shelters, or from private individuals who can no longer care for their pets and who would otherwise send them to a shelter.<br /><br />Not only are you not going to pay a HUGE markup on a private breeders' price tag, you also will likely get an animal who has been privately trained by the shelters, spayed, neutered, de-wormed, groomed, and has all shots up to date. In fact, many shelters even offer up to 8 or more FREE at home training sessions, just for your kindness in choosing to adopt the right way. There are also occasions where you may obtain pets for free!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.torontohumanesociety.com/getinvolved/localprograms.asp"><IMG SRC="http://lh6.google.com/bunnyinabananasuit/RsJeBr9Vq3I/AAAAAAAAAFU/R3teLzw2coE/hbc.jpg"></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">CAN'T AFFORD A PET, BUT WANT TO GIVE?</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.torontohumanesociety.com/getinvolved/localprograms.asp">Did you know that you can donate HBC points</a>, and many other points you collect on various purchases?<br /><br />If you are a cardholder of ANY type of company card that rewards you points per purchase, check out their websites! Donating your points to a humane society/shelter allows the staff the much needed fundage required to purchase bowls, food, grooming utensils, towels for warmth, and more! A little goes a long way, and donating points is AS GOOD AS CASH!<br><br>Bunny In A Banana Suithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491876022488717136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35828686.post-17976836721002518602007-04-05T01:38:00.000-07:002008-12-10T09:04:12.190-08:00World Vision & Their Pretty cool idea!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RnmoXXj_tHI/AAAAAAAAABM/38xgS_HWgvg/s1600-h/wv_logo_v69.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RnmoXXj_tHI/AAAAAAAAABM/38xgS_HWgvg/s400/wv_logo_v69.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078275174252393586" /></a><br /><br />Did you know that World Vision donates a whopping 85 PERCENT of your funds directly to your sponsor child and his or her community?<br /><br />World Vision publishes reports annually so that its members can see proof of exactly where and how their funds are being used.<br /><br />You can adopt from many countries where children are in need, if you choose not to select race, country or sex, a child will be randomly selected for you. <br /><br />Did you know that HIV/AIDS orphans more than 6,000 children every day, and even more children are impacted and left vulnerable from the devastation of the disease? With 35 dollars a month, you not only provide food and shelter for your child, but (also his or her COMMUNITY)! and, you also provide them with sex and health education.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">CAN'T AFFORD A MONTHLY DONATION, BUT WANT TO HELP?</span></span><br /><br />There are other ways to give:<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www2.worldvision.ca/gifts/app"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/RhS1nhd9zjI/AAAAAAAAAA4/Hm0lajCbvLU/s400/banner.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5049860772792749618" /></a> World Vision is known as a reputable organization helping children in need. If you cannot afford to sponsor a child overseas monthly, you can opt for a one time free gift. Gifts can include a goat for milking, fruit, fresh water, and more! Click on the banner to see how you can help starving families in the third world.<br><br><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/Rr_lrr9VqxI/AAAAAAAAADk/Kft83gv0kbQ/s1600-h/rltimg.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VPprahigsVY/Rr_lrr9VqxI/AAAAAAAAADk/Kft83gv0kbQ/s400/rltimg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098045841903823634" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />______________________________________________________Bunny In A Banana Suithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491876022488717136noreply@blogger.com